2015 Azelia Barolo DOCG 750 ml

On our last trip to Barolo, one of the most eye-opening tastings was at one of the more overlooked wineries in Piedmont: Azelia. We had a characteristically packed schedule, racing around the windy hillsides to (barely) make each tasting appointment on time. On the second-to-last night, we stopped in at the legendary La Libera Osteria, where we took advantage of the local pricing on some back vintage Azelia bottles. Impressed with our appreciation for his favorite under-the-radar producer, the owner poured us an off-menu taste of Azelia’s 2015 Barolo. 

We instantly agreed to skip lunch the next day in order to head directly to the source and secure as much as we could get our hands on. A serious over achiever in every vintage, this 2015 has a special level of sophistication that reminds us why it’s earned such reverence among Barolo collectors. Ripe red berry melted into fresh-tilled earth, licorice, savory tar, loose-leaf Maduro tobacco, and the deeply haunting rose florals that Azelia somehow captures in nearly every bottle. So immediately delicious but with the stuffing to cellar as well—Azelia clearly achieved more vibrancy and balance than most of their peers were able to bottle from that sun-kissed vintage.

We still don’t understand why (or how) Azelia is able to remain such a Barolo lover’s secret, with The Wine Advocate saying their wines “can hold their own with the very best…combin[ing] power and elegance with a level of virtuosity matched by few in the region…” 

Azelia is located in the tiny commune of Castiglione Falletto, a highly-prized location known as the nexus of the two core soil types of Barolo. The combination of soils is often credited for the power and elegance of the wines grown there. The 2015 Barolo is a Nebbiolo blended from seven different small vineyards, with roughly one-third from Castiglione Falletto and the rest from primarily the Cerretta and Broglio crus in Serralunga d'Alba.

There, at their small winery, we met proprietor Luigi Scavino and his son, Lorenzo. Established in 1920 by patriarch Lorenzo Scavino, Luigi and Lorenzo represent the fourth and fifth generations in charge of this family estate. (Fun fact: Luigi is the cousin of Enrico Scavino of Barolo’s famed Paolo Scavino, and together they share ownership of the famed Fiasco hill.)

With a twinkle in his eye, Luigi regaled us with tales of his rabble-rousing youth, recounting how he nearly gave his father a heart attack when he announced his plans to drop fruit in order to reduce yields and improve quality. To his father’s World War II generation, intentional yield-reduction was an unconscionable blasphemy. 

But the bet paid off and Azelia’s quality soared—or as Vinous critic Antonio Galloni puts it, “Proprietor Luigi Scavino doesn’t get anywhere near the attention he deserves, but make no mistake about it, his top Barolos play in the same league with Piedmont’s elite bottlings.”

Fast forward to today, and Luigi’s son Lorenzo is the one carrying the progressive torch—converting the vineyards to organic and focusing on the preservation of their 60-year-old vines. As a result, Azelia’s wines have been steadily improving for over a decade, which says a lot considering that the 1996 and 2004 vintages we had at La Libera were quite extraordinary as well.

With Lorenzo taking on more responsibility around the winery and vineyards, and his father at his side, Azelia should be firmly on the radar for every Barolo collector. And with The Wine Advocate printing things like “These are among my favorite wines to drink” and “Readers looking for a first-rate Barolo producer whose pricing has remained very fair need look no further than the wines of Azelia and proprietor Luigi Scavino.