# Barbaresco Roncagliette (2023)

- **Producer:** Olek Bondonio
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Nebbiolo
- **Region:** Piemonte, Italy
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €70
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, plum, raspberry, rose, violet, herbaceous, black pepper, liquorice, smoke

## About this wine

Olek Bondonio produces this wine from his family's historic estate, Cascina La Berchialla, situated in the heart of Barbaresco, Piedmont. Before dedicating himself to winemaking full-time, Bondonio was an Italian national champion snowboarder. The family's roots in the region run deep; his ancestor General Bernardo Como was among the nine founders of the original Barbaresco wine cooperative in 1894. The Roncagliette cru is considered one of the finest vineyards in the entire appellation, sharing its hillside exposure and blue marl soils with Gaja's famous Sorì Tildìn parcel.

## Interesting facts

- Winemaker Olek Bondonio was an Italian national champion snowboarder before returning to manage his family's estate.
- Roncagliette is one of Barbaresco's supreme crus, sharing its ridge and blue marl soil with Gaja's Sorì Tildìn.
- Bondonio's ancestor General Bernardo Como co-founded the original 1894 cooperative that established Barbaresco as a world-class region.
- The wine undergoes an extended submerged-cap maceration on grape skins lasting up to two full months.

## Food pairing

The powerful tannic architecture and vibrant acidity of Barbaresco call for rich, protein-dense meats and earthy, savory dishes. Fat and protein bind with the firm Nebbiolo tannins, while local earthy delicacies like white truffles and wild mushrooms echo the ethereal complexity of the wine.

## Wine making process

Sourced from 35 to 50-year-old Nebbiolo vines grown at 350 meters elevation on heavy calcareous clay and Sant'Agata Fossili blue marl. Hand-harvested grapes undergo spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in concrete tanks, followed by an extended skin maceration of 30 to 60 days using the traditional submerged cap method. The wine is gently pressed in a manual basket press and aged for 20 to 24 months in neutral Austrian and Slavonian oak botti. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal added sulfites.