Italiano
Poderi Luigi Einaudi, stepping back into the history of Italy and of wine
Set amid the Dogliani hills, the estate founded by Italy’s second president of the republic, Luigi Einaudi, is a place to immerse oneself in the history of Italy and of wine, also considering the “Bordeaux” swimming pool on the premises.
There are estates that one should get to know and appreciate regardless of their wine or the need to be a wine lover. Poderi Luigi Einaudi is one of these places. This because when you go there it simply means stepping back into Italy’s past, immersing oneself in the past 125 years of socio-economic, political and agricultural history.
It all began in 1897, 125 years ago, when Luigi Einaudi acquired the San Giacomo estate in Dogliani, his mother’s home town, setting the stage for its agricultural future. Back then, Italy was still a nation of farms and bell towers, subject to years of agricultural adversities, mass emigration and grape phylloxera. The latter was an infestation that found its nemesis in Einaudi’s vineyards, in the form of the successful idea of grafting grape shoots onto resistant American rootstocks. Despite the ongoing agricultural crisis, Luigi Einaudi understood that Dogliani’s economic future, as well as that of the Langhe in general, would be winegrowing. His foresight led him to acquire vineyards in the area and to build a winery in 1915. While maintaining an active interest, he left the cultivation of the land and its vineyards to his tenant farmers, who were responsible for and benefitted from the estate’s success. This also because he, after the war, had the responsibility of guiding, in a fatherly way, Italy through its first years as a republic when he was elected its president on May 12, 1948.
He was a highly cultured man as well as being an economist (previously he had been budget minister and the governor of the Bank of Italy) who paid great attention to waste, in part due to his country roots, of which he was very proud. With his acquisition of the Dogliani estate (at 23 thanks to a 20-year loan) he sought to repay his parents with a farsighted investment for the sacrifices they made to allow him to study.
The estate today is the family’s summer home and we were fortunate to be able to visit it, a privilege reserved for a select few (one of the last being Italy’s current president, Sergio Mattarella). We also had access to Luigi Einaudi’s private study, which was yet another example of his frugality, being just a small room set between two large windows looking out over the countryside. Above it, however, was a magnificent library. It all represents a synthesis of culture and rural spirit that has been progressively handed down through the branches of his family. There is, on the one hand, the Einaudi publishing house, founded by his son Giulio in 1933, and the music of the latter’s composer son Ludovico (who for the estate’s 125th anniversary composed the musical piece entitled “Dogliani”). On the other hand, there is his great-grandson Matteo Sardagna Einaudi, who is carrying on the family’s farming tradition and its love of the land, which was also so dear to his mother Paola.
This commitment became even more concrete in 2016 following the death of the estate’s historic enologist, Lorenzo Raimondi, when Matteo rose to the occasion and assumed full control over the winery, relying on the consolidated skill of its technical staff and the consultancy of Beppe Caviola. The estate’s new direction set by Matteo obviously also involved the wines and along with Dogliani he also expanded production of Barolo and Barbaresco. “I decided to change the style of our wines, making them less heavy by moving away from a winemaking tradition that exploited extracts to the maximum. I wanted to produce a Barolo that does not need ten years to be ready and today I can finally confirm that we are producing wines that can be enjoyed immediately”. He was so convinced of this that Matteo had no qualms about giving us “a preview of previews”, barrel samples of his vintage 2019 Barolo and Barbaresco. “Back in the day, tasting a Barolo or Barbaresco that was so young made your mouth bleed,” he joked, referring to the well-known “scratching” characteristic of Nebbiolo tannins. “Being a lover of Burgundy, my fixation was to be able, as the French are, to make wines that are already ready to drink and pleasing but nevertheless still have a propensity to age… or, at least, I hope time will prove me right”.
Einaudi wines today are pleasing, agile and a far cry from the traditional heavy version. Their salinity is the wine’s stylistic telltale, which is certainly tannic, acidic and, at times, contracted, yet always balanced by a succulence that envelopes the palate like a rushing river, refreshing and rehydrating it. The vitality of the flavor is distinct and the mouthfeel is shimmering, dynamic, fluid and yet very persistent. An example of this nouvelle vague is the Barolo Cru Monvigliero, the product of Matteo’s latest acquisition (1.5 hectares in Verduno). It made its debut with the debatable vintage 2018 and for the 125th anniversary of the foundation of Poderi Luigi Einaudi it was given a label designed by the artist Stefano Arienti entitled “Horses on Columns, a Homage to Giulio Romano (2021)”. It depicts a stylized and ethereal horse that becomes of substance and grounded thanks to the weight of the column it rests on. Much like those roots that go deep into the earth of the past and the prospects for the future of the Einaudi estate in Dogliani, which with the restoration of the Madonna delle Grazie farmhouse has become even more open to wine tourism and hospitality, with ten rooms for guests and a wonderful swimming pool shaped like a Bordeaux bottle with an endless panorama over the magnificent Langhe landscape.
Barolo Cannubi 2018
95/100 - € 65
Nebbiolo grapes. Matured for 30 months in large oak barrels and in the bottle. A clear ruby color with an orange edge. The bouquet has dark notes of humus, iron and balsamic wood, together with light scents of dark fruit preserved in alcohol. The mouthfeel is broad and dynamic, substantial and full-bodied with expanded and elegant tannins which offer a pleasingly dry finish with a licorice stick aftertaste. An endless balsamic persistence.
Barolo Bussia 2018
94/100 - € 65
Nebbiolo grapes. Matured for 30 months in large oak barrels and in the bottle. An orange-ruby color. The aroma is broad and ethereal and opens with hydrocarbon and balsamic sensations followed by those of blackcurrant, blood orange and dark spices. The dynamic mouthfeel has a salinity that ushers in a long and refreshing succulence while the tannins are chewy and precise and the finish very elegant.
Barolo Monvigliero 125° Anniversario 2018
94/100 - € 100
Nebbiolo grapes. Matured in large oak barrels and in the bottle. A ruby color with an edge that blends into orange. An elegant and rounded bouquet of sweet citrus, red fruit in syrup, cacao, sweet spice and balsamic sensations. The mouthfeel is pleasingly nervous, almondy with taut and distinct tannins yet overall nicely diluted by the succulent persistence. A fresh and very fruity finish.
Barolo Terlo Vigna Costa Grimaldi 2018
91/100 - € 48
Nebbiolo grapes. Matured for 30 months in large oak barrels. A ruby color that thins out on the edge. The aroma is a combination of sweet and bitter sensations of balsamic spices, toasting and blackcurrant in syrup. The mouthfeel is taut and warm, the tannins have a good grip and are very persistent with a dry finish that has an aftertaste of licorice and cocoa beans. The after aroma is long distinguished by sweet toasted hints.
Dogliani Superiore Tecc 2019
90/100 - € 14,50
Made from Dolcetto grapes and matured for a year in stainless steel and cement. A lively ruby color with purple reflections. The bouquet is made complex by the notes of marasca cherry, blackcurrant, a floral potpourri, oleander flowers and almond paste. The attack of the mouthfeel is relaxed and broad with a dynamic and lively progression towards a straightforward and distinctly acidic finish with well-integrated tannins and aftertastes of marasca cherry and almond.
Dogliani 2021
87/100 - € 10,50
Made from Dolcetto grapes and matured in stainless steel. A ruby-purple color. The aroma has scents of violent, plum and mature flowers to then become rounded with notes of pepper and cocoa. The mouthfeel is straightforward, taut and made pungent by the acidity with evident tannins in the finish, which is pleasingly dry, bitterish and clean.
