# Barbaresco Gallina (2022)

- **Producer:** Castello di Neive
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Nebbiolo
- **Region:** Piemonte, Italy
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.5%
- **Average price:** €47
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, plum, raspberry, rose, violet, black pepper, liquorice, vanilla, cedar, smoke, leather, tobacco, forest floor, mushroom

## About this wine

Castello di Neive is housed in a grand 18th-century noble palace, owned and operated by the Stupino family since 1964. The estate holds a monumental place in Italian wine history: in the mid-19th century, French oenologist Louis Oudart worked in the castle's cellars to help develop the very first dry, fully fermented Nebbiolo wines, shaping the birth of modern dry Barbaresco and Barolo. The Gallina vineyard is one of the region's most prestigious crus, and Castello di Neive has been isolating and bottling this specific subzone as a single-vineyard wine since 2008.

## Interesting facts

- Castello di Neive's dedicated parcel in the prestigious Gallina Cru is extremely small, measuring just 0.31 hectares.
- In the mid-19th century, French oenologist Louis Oudart helped develop the first dry, fully fermented Nebbiolo wines in the castle's cellars.
- The 2022 vintage of this wine is highly allocated, with an extremely limited annual production of only 5,000 bottles.

## Food pairing

This highly structured, high-acid, and high-tannin Nebbiolo requires rich, protein-heavy dishes and earthy flavors to soften its robust tannic profile. The natural acidity cuts through rich fats, while the earthy undertones of the wine beautifully mirror dishes featuring mushrooms or truffles.

## Wine making process

Grapes are manually harvested and sorted from a tiny 0.31-hectare parcel in the Gallina Cru. Traditional vinification is employed, featuring long fermentation and maceration in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats to extract deep color, complex aromatics, and structural tannins. The wine is matured for 12 months in large oak barrels, followed by an additional 12 months of refinement in the bottle before commercial release.