Rocche Costamagna Barolo Rocche Dell’Annunziata Riserva Bricco Francesco 2013 750 ML

Bricco Francesco is a ripe and juicy Barolo with pulpy fruit and intense aromas of cherry, tobacco, strawberry and cola. There’s a bit of vanilla and sweet spice as well and the wine is generously textured with smooth tannins. Producer Information Rocche Costamagna is a Piedmontese estate situated in La Morra in the Barolo zone of the Alba region. It is indeed best known for the production of Barolo wines, though the current portfolio also includes several Barbera d’Alba, Dolcetto d’Alba and Langhe DOC wines. The majority of Rocche Costamagna’s vineyards are located in La Morra, with additional vineyard plots situated in Verduno. Grape varieties including Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Arneis are grown in La Morra. The vineyard sites in Verduno provide the Nebbiolo grapes for the Rocche Costamagna Langhe Nebbiolo Roccardo. The family-owned estate dates back to 1841; Alessandro Locatelli has been in charge since the 1980s and has overseen extensive renovations in both the vineyards and winery. Today, the estate covers 14 hectares (35 acres) of Langhe hillside. The Rocche dell’Annunziata vineyard in La Morra is one of the estate’s oldest and most prized vineyards and is used purely for the cultivation of Nebbiolo. The vines are planted on southwest-facing slopes consisting of clay, silt and sand. These vines are the source of the estate’s single-vineyard Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata, as well as its Barolo Bricco Francesco that is only produced in the best vintage years from a small section of vineyard known as “bricco”. Barbera grapes are also cultivated in a small parcel of the Rocche dell’Annunziata vineyard for the estate’s Barbera d’Alba Superiore Rocche delle Rocche. The grapes from each vineyard are vinified separately to maintain the qualities specific to each terroir. The oldest sections of the winery were originally part of a fortress built by the French military in the early 1800s and since expansion and development work production now reaches up to 85,000 bottles of wine per year. Rocche Costamagna also makes a single Grappa di Barolo, as well as a Barolo Chinato.