2017 Damilano Cannubi 1752 Barolo Riserva Piedmont 750 ml

To us, Barolo is synonymous with regal, collectible, long-aging wines. 

But there's a level of Barolo that most casual wine lovers never get to experience—the bottles are either too hard to find, or the prices are too out of reach. After all, Voerzio and Gaja bottles of this class often fetch $350–$700!

The Damilano 2017 Cannubi 1752 Riserva is on that rarefied level, but it comes at a price that vastly undercuts those icons.

The source is Cannubi, Barolo's most famous cru, which enjoys the same reverence as Napa's To Kalon or Burgundy's Richebourg. Antonio Galloni of Vinous called it "among the most precious vineyards anywhere in the world."

The fourth-generation Damilano family farms more than half of the coveted Cannubi cru, whose sublime quality grapegrowers had recognized as early as the 18th century. Wines were labeled "Cannubi" centuries before they were labeled "Barolo," and this wine is named for the vintage they found written on an early Cannubi wine.  

Derived from a local dialect, "Cannubi" translates as "mix of soil," and refers to the geological anomaly that makes the vineyard a unique and magnificent site: It is the only location in Barolo to feature both Tortonian marl and chalky, iron-rich Helvetian soils. This intersection contributes to the wine's terrific complexity, manifesting both the graceful and muscular aspects of Barolo's soul.

The 1752 Riserva comes from the vineyard's most sacred parcel—barely five acres of south- and southeast-facing vines aged 50 to 70 years. Damilano makes just 500 cases, all raised in one barrel.