THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OUR LANGHE NEBBIOLO LASARIN
Posts about Marcarini wines continue. This time it’s the turn of Nebbiolo Lasarin, our «Barolo in blue jeans»
Nebbiolo is without doubt one of the Piedmont wines that has achieved the greatest success and aroused most attention, enthusiasm and curiosity among connoisseurs and ordinary drinkers in recent years. Why? Because it is the offspring of the same grape variety that produces great Barolo and Barbaresco, but has characteristics, consumption patterns and – no less important – prices that make it appealing to a wide and varied public.
Above all, Nebbiolo is perhaps Piedmont’s most typical, authentic and historic black grape. Although it is grown in many parts of Italy and the world, it is only in Piedmont that it finds is highest expression, giving wines with unique characteristics. Nebbiolo is able to “read and interpret” the soil it is planted in like few others. Once it has “figured out the secrets” of a particular soil, just like litmus paper it renders the “lessons it has learned” in the glass. Ancient, marly soils like those of the Langhe produce incredibly structured, complex, full-bodied wines. Sandier, limestone soils, like those of Roero, for example, transfer more aroma, less structure but greater freshness to Nebbiolo wine.
Proof of this incredible flexibility are the dozens and dozens of different wines made from Nebbiolo in the Piedmont hills – from Barolo to Barbaresco, Roero, Ghemme, Gattinara, Boca, Sizzano, Bramaterra, Fara, Canavese Nebbiolo and – of course– Langhe Nebbiolo, one of its most widespread and popular expressions among the wines of the Langhe.
LANGHE NEBBIOLO LASARIN
Son of the soil
Lasarin? Lasarin… who or what was it? There’s no better way of getting to know Lasarin that starting from its name. In Piedmont dialect, Lasarin means “la serrina”, or “little serra, or crest”, an obvious reference to La Serra, the Additional Geographic Definition, or Barolo cru, that Marcarini has the honour to work.
Body and soul
Lasarin is a blend of Nebbiolo grapes from the Langhe’s best zones. Some of the vineyards are located in La Morra, within La Serra, where grapes from the youngest vines are reserved for it. Some come from Neviglie, a hilly area adjacent to the Barbaresco denomination. The former give body, structure and fruit, while the latter, in line with the features typical of Barbaresco soil, give Lasarin its aromatic soul, which contributes to developing an enveloping, sensual nose.
Blue Jeans
The young character of this wine, aged only in stainless steel to underscore its scents and freshness, has earned Lasarin a curious epithet. We call it «Barolo in blue jeans», that is, a Barolo, which while preserving its character as a great wine, has thrown off its austere, monumental guise in favour of an agreeable drinkability throughout the meal.
