Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 and 2018: top-scoring wines

The greatest excitement around wines such as Langhe Nebbiolo is not only the drinkability compared to fellow territorial teammates like Barolo and Barbaresco, but also the bang for your buck.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Aldo’s top-rated Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 and 2018 wines

The eagerness to taste these wines as soon as one can is understandable, as it’s an opportunity for wine lovers to foresee the quality of their more noble Langhe counterparts in any given vintage, one or two years before Barolo and Barbaresco are released.

Langhe Nebbiolo is mostly a by-product of those two flagship wines: most of the time, a producer designates the grapes from younger and lesser-quality vines to the production of Langhe Nebbiolo.

In difficult vintages, such as those with extremes such as drought or too much rainfall, the differences are significant.

Old vines with deeper roots naturally produce more balanced grapes, regardless of climatic variation. However, in very good vintages young vines and less prominent vineyards are often capable of producing outstanding grapes too.

Langhe Nebbiolo 2019

This was the case in 2019 in the Langhe, a balanced vintage with a long growing season and a classic albeit slightly late harvest in mid-October, with no extremes.

A heavy hailstorm hit on 5 September, but was mostly concentrated to Serra dei Turchi and Bricco Manescotto in La Morra; Fontanafredda in Serralunga d’Alba; and in Grinzane Cavour. The average temperature was slightly higher than the 10-year average from 2006 to 2016.

‘It seems safe to say that 2019 was a good vintage, in a number of cases even very good or excellent, with substantial acidity and alcohol levels that are not extreme,’ comments cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti in his detailed report.

Tasting the first samples of Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 it would seem that the wines are extremely balanced, with a suppleness and concentration of fruit to counteract the firm structure of Nebbiolo and its nervous acidity. This balance is apparent amongst the good quality producers but widely depends on which village the grapes come from. Across the region, from Verduno to Serralunga, from La Morra to Monforte, several samples were just too austere.

I’m dazzled by the refinement of these Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 wines and I would bet on this vintage for Barolo and Barbaresco.

On the contrary, the damp and rainy 2018 vintage produced quite simple, sometimes raw Langhe Nebbiolo, lacking definition, concentration and – in the worst examples – length. They could be limpid and deliciously perfumed, yet no more than ready to drink now.

Langhe Nebbiolo vs Nebbiolo d’Alba

This report focuses on Langhe Nebbiolo but it’s worth discussing the differences between them and Nebbiolo d’Alba.

In theory, Nebbiolo d’Alba has better quality: Langhe is a territorial denomination, a category based on careful selection of grapes in the vineyard, including Freisa, Dolcetto and Barbera.

A Nebbiolo vineyard that produces grapes destined for Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero and Nebbiolo d’Alba will often also produce grapes for Langhe Nebbiolo DOC.

Nebbiolo d’Alba, on the other hand, can be produced only with Nebbiolo grapes from specific villages in the Alba province, among which La Morra (partially), Grinzane Cavour, Novello, Verduno, Monforte and Diano d’Alba. This freedom excites producers for more than one reason one.

Premium producers can carry out severe selections for their Barolo and Barbaresco from top sites, putting significant amounts of decent, if not great, grapes into Langhe Nebbiolo.

At the same time, these relatively affordable Nebbiolos have become an easy way for a consumer to bring top Barolo and Barbaresco brands into their homes.

Today, prices for Langhe Nebbiolo are trending upwards, towards significantly high in some cases – but this reflects the product itself, which is soaring in quality. Thus, a lot of estates in the region are opting towards Langhe Nebbiolo in order to achieve a premiumisation of their Nebbiolo.

Top Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 and 2018

View all 23 Langhe Nebbiolo wines tasted

View all 23 Langhe Nebbiolo wines tasted

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