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2019 Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco Asili

2019 Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco Asili

94+ RP

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Sokolin Notes:
This Barbaresco is a Total Knockout!

Featured Review
The Michele Chiarlo 2019 Barbaresco Asili has a fragrant bouquet with bright and punchy aromas of wild cherry, raspberry, blue flower and crushed stone. This vintage shows a level of energy and vitality that helps it stand out in a crowd, and the wine is elegant and silky in texture. This is an especially attractive expression from the celebrated Asili vineyard of Barbaresco. Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Robert Parker | 94+ RP

Critic Reviews

The Michele Chiarlo 2019 Barbaresco Asili has a fragrant bouquet with bright and punchy aromas of wild cherry, raspberry, blue flower and crushed stone. This vintage shows a level of energy and vitality that helps it stand out in a crowd, and the wine is elegant and silky in texture. This is an especially attractive expression from the celebrated Asili vineyard of Barbaresco.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RP
Very beautiful and balanced Asili with ultra-fine tannins that give a refined texture to the wine across the palate. Medium body with juicy berry, nutmeg, hazelnut and bark flavors that are subtle and appealing. So drinkable now, but can improve with age.

James Suckling | 93 JS
The 2019 Barbaresco Asili is a pretty rich, heady wine. Black cherry, spice, leather and chocolate bring out the darker side of Asili. There’s certainly plenty of richness. The Chiarlo Asili ultimately favors power and density over finesse. It’s not my favorite style of Asili, but all the elements are nicely balanced just the same. Drinking Window
2024 - 2034

Antonio Galloni | 93 AG
This red combines bright cherry and raspberry flavors with savory elements of eucalyptus, earth, tar and tobacco. Though dense, this has a fluid feel as it builds to a long fruity, earthy and licorice aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042. 350 cases made, 70 cases imported.

Wine Spectator | 93 WS
This wine combines depth and elegance, opening with delicate violet scents that lead into spice-suffused flavors of red cherry, licorice and candied orange peel. The fruit maintains a tangy edge that dovetails with the wine’s taut, polished tannins. Lively acidity propels the flavors as those floral notes re-emerge on the energetic finish.
Kobrand, Purchase, NY

Wine and Spirits Mag | 93 W&S

Wine Details for 2019 Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco Asili

Type of Wine Barbaresco : A good Barbaresco traditionally conjures a perfume of powerful floral aroma, and massages your tastebuds with gentle violets and roses creating a juicy burst of cherry and truffle. If you decide to let the wine age, it can develop smokey, earthy notes that round out the experience beautifully. No one is left indifferent after tasting one of these masterpieces, we can assure you of that.
Varietal Nebbiolo : Nebbiolo is the superstar grape variety and driving force behind the top-quality red wines of northwestern Italy. The Italian winegrowing appellation of Piedmont is covered by a sea of Nebbiolo grape vines. It is the undisputed king of grapes in the twin hillside villages of Barolo and Barbaresco, where some of the world’s most coveted wines hail from.

Quality over quantity is the motto for this subtly powerful grape. A mere 5,500 hectares of Nebbiolo are cultivated around the world, of which, more than 4,000 are found in Langhe and Roero. The varietal has been growing here since the 1st century and has been called Nebbiolo since the 1200’s. Like most ancient grape varietals, there are many speculations as to its true origin, but what is certain is that in the hills of Langhe and Roero, Nebbiolo has found its ideal environment.

Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon which is a versatile grape, Nebbiolo has not thrived when planted in wine regions outside of northern Italy. Nebbiolo is more like the finicky Pinot Noir: difficult to grow and highly reflective of terroir. The varietal thrives on calcareous marl, a lime-rich mudstone that is found on the right back of the Tanaro River (home to Barolo and Barbaresco) where it grows best in its warm climate and ample sunlight. The growing conditions in the hilly areas of Barolo and Barbaresco are optimal and produce some of the most sought after wines not only in Italy, but in the world.

The Nebbiolo vine buds earlier than most grapes grown in Piedmont but harvested last. The berries do not appear until long after flowering, making it very susceptible to poor weather conditions. The name Nebbiolo is thought to have come from the Italian word for fog, nebbia, which is common during the fall when the local hillsides are covered in a ghostly haze.

The iron fist in a velvet glove, which is a witty slogan for the wine of Barolo, can aptly be used to define the Nebbiolo grape itself. The thin-skinned, light colored grape packs a punch, producing wines that are light ruby when young and fades to a pale garnet when older. This characteristic should not be mistaken as watery; wine produced from Nebbiolo is super concentrated and flavorful with high acidity and tannins. When properly vinified, the best vintages will last for decades.

Despite the challenges of this fussy grape, some growers in the “New World” are trying their hand at harvesting Nebbiolo. In South Australia young producers are making wines that are fruiter and less tannic than their Italian counterparts. This novel take on the Italian grape has prompted California, Chile and South Africa to begin small plantings of Nebbiolo.

The iron fist in a velvet glove, the undisputed king of Piedmont and the deceptively powerful Nebbiolo grape may be limited in quantity, much-coveted, nearly exclusive to Italy, demands aging and can sometimes command high prices; the wait, the price and the difficulty in finding it is rewarded with one of the greatest wines made from the mighty Nebbiolo grape varietal.

Country Italy : Italy is renowned as one of the world’s greatest gastronomic havens; from certified Prosciutto di Parma to the sea-side seafood eateries on the island of Sicily. However, this epicurean experience could not possibly be as hedonistic without the ethereal combination of the country’s plethora of fine wines. It seems unfair that a nation should be able to boast, both, some of the world’s greatest cuisine as well as its greatest wines. Italian wine is one of the most sought after in the world, and has become the second most produced in the world, behind only France.



Stretching an impressive 736 miles from northern Italy to the peninsula’s southern tip, the country’s geography generates an enormous array of topography, climate and soil structure. This is an extremely important quality of its winegrowing and making industry which lays claim to nearly 550 different grape varietals, which all desire their own necessities, in terms of terroir and climate.



The still red wines of Italy truly characterize the nation’s vast and expansive terroir; Nebbiolo dominates Piedmont, where Barolo and Barbaresco reign king and queen of the region’s production. Hailing from Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany, the rockstar Sangiovese grape has become synonymous with greatness. Vin Santo sweet wines have taken on a mighty feat of competing with the glorious wines of Sauternes, and of course, Prosecco. Prosecco, located in Trieste (northeast Italy) and its creation of luxuriously effervescent styles of wine has become Italy’s answer to Champagne. The Glera grape variety, which has become synonymous with the name Prosecco, is the main ingredient and is beloved in the appellation where the village of Prosecco’s name has become world renowned.



The blurred boundary between Italy and the countries of Slovenia and Austria, where German influence still resonates through Friuli wines. The prevalence of Riesling and other such grape varietals is high in this region and have become extremely popular on today’s market.



With nearly 702,000 hectares of grapevines covering the massive and diverse landscape, Italy’s annual average of 48.3 million hectoliters of wine production is second only to France in terms of volume and Spain in terms of hectares of vines. The country is vast and overwhelming when it comes to the culinary arts, but perhaps even this is overshadowed by its production of some of the world’s most sought after wines, whether the omnipresent Chianti to the highly collectible and sought after Amarone della Valpolicalla.


Subregion Barbaresco

Overview

Producer Michele Chiarlo : The story of Michele Chiarlo is one of great intimacy between man and terroir, of tradition, discipline and humble beginnings. The Michele Chiarlo name was made with the rise of the glorious reputation of Barolo. He had come from five generations of grape growers and now with his sons representing the seventh generation, the legacy of his family name lives on. Since 1956, Michele has been vinifying the essence of Piedmont, loving and developing the most incredible wines in the region.

The history of the estate dates back to 1930 when Michele’s father, Pietro, first tilled the lands, breaking the soil by hand to replant his vineyards in the Calamandrana hillside of Monferrato, Italy. Pietro cobbled enough together to purchase an ‘underrated’ parcel of land and with great determination, turned it into something viable for his children. Each new generation since has added and expanded onto the humble beginnings to create a living legacy. This romantic narrative, like many others diverges, carving out a new road for Barbera and Barolo and its impact on the global wine industry.

The Chiarlo family now cultivates 110 hectares of vineyards between the Langhe, Monferrato, and Gavi areas, within them the finest crus, while fully respecting the ecological criteria, terroir and their expression. The estate’s core tenet is to produce the highest quality Piemontese wines while respecting the beauty of nature, using discipline, tradition, and sustainability. Working only with indigenous grapes, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Cortese and Moscato, Chiarlo continues the traditional winemaking style implemented by his father, Pietro, nearly a century ago. For the Chiarlo family, “the vineyard is a living thing, a life that we want to experience.”

The centrality of work in the vineyard, origin of the uniqueness of a wine, to which they dedicate the strictest attention, in full respect for the environment and sustainability of work; every operation in the vineyards is performed manually, from fertilization to the green work, up to thinning and the harvest. The dedication towards native vines, such as Barbera, shown by Michele Chiarlo has been a fundamental platform for its emergence on the international wine scene. Chiarlo and many vintners alike, such as Renato Ratti, have propelled the wines of the Piedmont region into the global spotlight; each vintage growing in popularity and demand. Unfortunately, higher-end ‘Cru’ wines are made in limited quantities and only in the greatest vintages.

From the highly esteemed vineyards of Cerequio, Cannubi (perhaps the most famous hill in all of Italy) Asili and Faset, the Barolo and Barbarescos of Michele Chiarlo have become some of the hottest labels coming out of Piedmont. His Barbera d’Asti from the vineyards of Montemareto and Costa dell Monache have garnered world-wide attention, while his Gavi and Moscato d’Asti have quietly swelled in popularity. Using 100% indigenous grapes, without the assemblage of international varieties, a pure expression of the oenological wealth that only this native land knows how to convey.


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