Rare Wines. The allure of the single barrel

Aug 24 2022, 12:01 | by Gambero Rosso
The Masciarelli and Damiano Ciolli wineries offer us two wines that age in a single barrel. La Botte di Gianni is an authorial Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, while Botte Ventidue encapsulates the territory of Olevano Romano amid Trebbiano and Ottonese grapes

A good winemaker always knows how to identify his best barrel in the cellar. Maybe he doesn't know why, but he knows where to go, dropper in hand, to find the best liquid in the cellar on the right occasion. We have decided to dedicate this episode of  Rare Wines to two wines that are entirely collected in a single barrel.

These are well-studied, articulated projects, which start from a thought in the vineyard, to be later dressed with sartorial oak. This is the case of La Botte di Gianni, dedicated to Gianni Masciarelli, a pioneer of Abruzzo viticulture.His wife Marina Cvetic found two 700-litre tonneau in the cellar, purchased by Gianni and that were never used. So she decided to use them for a super selection, of about 900 bottles, for a white and a red.

In this case we will tell you about a 2016 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo that amazed us with its elegance and depth. A similar project takes us to Lazio, in Olevano Romano. In this case, the wine is born from the intuition of Letizia Rocchi, Damiano Ciolli's life and work partner. In a barrel marked with the number 22 rests a blend of Trebbiano and Ottonese that gives life to a rich and multifaceted white.

Rare Wines. Two great white wines that come from a single barrel

Botte Ventidue 2021

Damiano Ciolli
Lazio
white
Score: 
89
/100
VINEYARD | Inside barrel 22 breathes a blend of two grape varieties indigenous to the Olevano Romano area, green trebbiano and octonese, from two vineyards planted at different times and cultivated in a completely traditional way. The origin of the soils is of volcanic nature, the grapes are harvested manually, when they reach full optimal ripeness and vinified to enhance their recognizability and adherence to the context in which we operate PERSONS | Letizia Rocchi and Damiano Ciolli lead a boutique winery, about 7 hectares in total, meticulously cared for in every detail of production. Damiano Ciolli has inherited a family winemaking tradition-his grandfather Guido, like many producers in the Olevano Romano area, produced and sold bulk wine in Rome-bringing...
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Trebbiano d'Abruzzo La Botte di Gianni 2016

Masciarelli
Abruzzo
white
Score: 
96
/100
VINEYARD | We are faced with a selection of the Trebbiano grape selection vinified in a single 700-liter French oak tonneau, purchased by Gianni Masciarelli, always seeking attention to detail, for an initial friendship project. The barrel was found by his wife Marina Cvetic in the cellar, hence the production of a wine that is bottled on Gianni's birthday. The wine rested for 28 months and met the bottle iil April 15, 2018. 800 were produced. PERSON |  Marina Cvetic and her daughter Miriam Masciarelli firmly lead the winery founded in 1981 by Gianni. The agricultural project represents a kind of compendium of Abruzzo viticulture, with estates winding through different regional quadrants, from the warm Teramane Hills to the Ofena...
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