Soranus: the Barolo of Tenuta Montemagno
The branch that connects the King of Piedmontese wines to the Roman Empire, has its roots in the family tree of the Barea family, owner of Tenuta Montemagno. Barolo Soranus, indeed, owes its name to Quinto Marcio Barea Sorano, proconsul in Asia at the time of Emperor Nero between the years 50 and 60 BC.
Actually, the origin of Nebbiolo grape, from which Barolo wine is produced, are even more ancient and are lost in history of the ancient Rome. The first reports have been registered by Plinio il Vecchio, ancient latin writer, in his “Naturalis Historia” – the history of nature, where it celebrates the wine splendor of a grape grown on the hills of Novara. Other notes have been found in the book written by Columella, author of 1 AC – “De Re Rustica” – on the agriculture, which is considered the most complete treaty about the agriculture in the ancient times.
The Nebbiolo needs a specific terroir and it is very sensitive to atmospheric changes and to the soil composition.
The Barolo was born in the heart of the Langhe, in 11 municipalities located in an area of rare beauty, recognized in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among these 11 municipalities, the largest is certainly that of La Morra, where the vines from which we produce our Barolo Soranus are cultivated.
The choice of the vineyards in La Morra municipality, reflects the will of Tenuta Montemagno to create wines with great character, outstanding, and characterized by pleasantness and softness, elegance and finesse, the richness of the bouquet and the complexity. All elements that we find in the Nebbiolo cultivated in this part of the Langhe and due to the characteristics of the Tortonian area of the hills of La Morra, with a marly/limestone soil, in which the roots of the vineyards have more than 40 years.
Like all Tenuta Montemagno wines, also for our Barolo, the harvest is strictly manual to preserve the bunches condition until the cellar for the starts up of the wine making process. The fermentation takes about 20 days, followed by long periods of aging in wood barrels for at least 24 months.
The result is an extremely balanced Barolo, in which the typical characteristics of Nebbiolo grape from La Morra are well present. The color is brilliant garnet red, with light carmine highlights. The bouquet is generous and intense, with light touches of vanilla, licorice, ancient spices, black pepper, cherries and wild berries. On the palate is full, layered, almost opulent in its power, rich but harmonious with the right balance of tannin and a sweet, lingering finish.
The choice to vinify the selected grapes only from the best vintages is our fundamental value: the Soranus 2013 has been prized with Gold Medal at DWWA – Decanter World Wine Award and at The Wine Hunter; the vintage 2015 gained another Gold Medal at Mundus Vini International Wine Competition.
Piedmont and the Langhe, as well as Monferrato, are the areas where the wine is accompanied by two excellent and well-known products: the hazelnuts – Nocciola Piemonte igp Tonda Gentile and the white truffle, precious and valuable.
The ideal food pairing for the Barolo are the traditional recipes of Piedmont: the egg pasta, handmade Tajarin, with truffle, agnolotti with meat sauce, arrosti or brasati. An intriguing and tasty pairing is the Soranus with dark chocolate…
Giampiero Vento, Chef Executive of “La Civettà sul comò” restaurant will create for you gourmet dishes to combine with our Soranus.
A great suggestion is Tajarin with truffle or roast sauce.
