Spotlight on The Barolo Wines of Serralunga d’Alba and the 2023 Vintage

By John Szabo MS

Serralunga d’Alba is the easternmost and, in the eyes of most tasters, the most classically powerful of the Barolo communes. The village grew up around its well-preserved fourteenth-century Falletti castle, and for much of Barolo’s early commercial history its high, elevated ridge supplied négociants with the structural backbone for their blends rather than being bottled on its own.

That changed decisively in the twentieth century: Fontanafredda, founded in 1858 on land granted by King Vittorio Emanuele II, became one of the zone’s largest single landholders here, and Giacomo Conterno’s 1974 purchase of Cascina Francia — the source of Monfortino — did more than anything else to cement Serralunga’s reputation as a source of Barolo’s longest-lived wines.

Geologically, Serralunga sits on the opposite side of the valley from La Morra and the town of Barolo, and on markedly older rock. The western communes lie on Tortonian-era Sant’Agata Fossili Marls — younger, softer, clay-rich soils that yield earlier-drinking, more perfumed wines. Serralunga instead sits on the Serravallian-age Lequio Formation: compact alternating layers of sandstone, limestone and marl, higher in calcareous content and lower in clay, with better drainage and less fertility. The commune’s hillside forms a natural amphitheater open to the south and east, with vineyards running roughly 250 to 460 meters, and the leaner, well-drained soils push vines toward smaller berries with thicker skins.

The resulting wines are Barolo’s most structured: firmly tannic, high in acid, built for extended aging, often needing a decade or more to soften. Fruit character runs to dark cherry, plum and licorice rather than the redder, more floral fruit of the western communes, with a savory, herbal register — sage, rosemary, tar — that producers here frequently cite as a signature. Alongside Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga is generally regarded as the source of Barolo’s most powerful, least immediately approachable expressions.

Serralunga also has more officially recognized MGAs than any other Barolo commune, and several rank among the appellation’s most sought-after: Vigna Rionda, widely considered the commune’s grandest cru; Francia, home to Monfortino; Falletto, associated above all with Bruno Giacosa; and Cerretta, Lazzarito, Margheria, Ornato, Parafada, Baudana, Prapò and Gabutti are also consistently cited among the commune’s finest sites.

Serralunga Day – John Szabo

Serralunga 2023: Describing a Vintage by Committee

At this year’s sixth annual Serralunga Day celebrating the latest vintage release held at the Fontanafredda estate, 25 wines labelled Barolo del Comune di Serralunga were poured side by side: one commune, one vintage, 2023. The opening remarks set out the premise. “If we stay together, it’s possible to grow,” said Andrea Farinetti of Fontanafredda about the producers’ association. Andrea Lonardi MW, co -eading the tasting with Gabriele Gorelli MW and Canada’s own Michaeal Morris (and regular NWAC judge), made the case for the commune as a unit of meaning: “It’s not just Barolo, it’s not [MGA], but it’s a real focus of the macro terroir.” Afterwards a dozen of us retreated to a closed room to agree on how to describe what we had tasted.

The agreed text opens with the weather: “a climatic rhythm marked by alternating intense spring rains, hot summer spells, and a bright, cool end to the season that concluded in a traditional harvest period.” That last clause began as a technical observation in the room: classic, “in the classic period of the Nebbiolo harvest.” Producer comments on the wider 2023 flight fill in the vineyard side. At Fontanafredda, whole-cluster use in Vigna San Pietro fell to 30% from 50% in 2022 because the stems ripened less in the wetter year, and Vigna La Rosa yielded 8,000 bottles against the usual 13,000 to 14,000.

Giuseppe Vajra found 2023 less eventful than 2022 at his sites, with a later picking window, but stressed that this was site-specific. Andrea Farinetti’s shorthand: 2023 marries the “seriousness, classicism and verticality” of 2021 with the “succulence” of 2022.

Reaching the final wording took a while. As Ettore Germano, current association president, observed, “We could be here for a year, or a year and a bit.” The first draft called the aromas “open, generous.” The room answered with a long run of “no,” and Lonardi supplied the reason: “You can see these wines still aren’t expressing themselves.” They became “reserved, with a Mediterranean touch, ready to reveal themselves over time.” “Rich” went the same way. “I don’t like rich,” I said. “A bit impassive, but very elegant.” Another: “There’s complexity, but rich it isn’t. Also because it’s still taking shape.” The replacement, sfaccettato (multifaceted), was adopted as “my new word of the day.”

“Friendly” lasted longer. Its defender meant a vintage that “truly meets everyone’s tastes.” The objection was that it was “a bit against the nature of Barolo,” and American writer Jessica Dupuis, co-author of the excellent book called Italianity along with Lonardi) offered “more sophisticated.” The final text says versatile and sophisticated. “Ready to uncork” and “accessibility” were cut after Morris insisted on “near term evolution, it’s not going to require a decade.” “Lightness” was argued over in two languages (“Leave ‘lightness’ in English and use ‘franchezza’ in Italian”) and appears in neither. “Proactivity” lost to sensitivity and skill: “First you sense it, then you act.” Acidity, notably, does not appear at all; the draft’s “well-integrated acidity” gave way to juiciness, verve and tension.

The title was the last real argument. One participant found the draft title muddled: “The rhythm of the vintage is the elegance of the territory. I’d say energy of the territory.” Another wanted “the versatility of the territory rather than elegance, the diversity and the differences.” The answer: “Everyone is talking about variability, but there was a strong common thread.” Energy made the title; elegance survives in the body.

My notes on the 25 wines mostly agree with the text. Twenty-four were scored, ranging from 89 to 94 with a mean of 92. These are not fruit-led wines: “fruit is not a main component as seems to be the case with the 2023s overall,” I wrote of one, and of another, “not wines of ‘fruit purity’ but more a mixed bag of resinous herbs.” Ten notes mention savoury character and five orange peel or citrus zest. Tannins are fine and chalky (eight notes), “like raw silk, short-chained” in one. Seven notes comment on acidity, usually “succulent,” “juicy” or “crunchy,” so it frames these wines whatever the manifesto leaves out. Flesh is scarce; Baudana was “one of the few 2023s with flesh on the bones.” “Mediterranean touch” turns up in Farinetti’s description of Lazzarito, too: rosemary and sage he refuses to call balsamic.

Where I would push back: “many wines already show energy and drinkability” describes a minority. Nine notes point to mid-term drinking or two to four years of cellaring, and only a few call the wine ready now. The range is real: a reductive edge on several, a couple of rustic examples, and one tank sample with volatile acidity that I did not score. A consensus document describes the middle of the distribution; the bottles include the tails.

Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini, remembered at the opening, defined sustainability as “make things last over time.” The manifesto’s closing clause, “without sacrificing depth or ageability,” is the same ambition with fewer adjectives.

Bricco Luciani with Serralunga in distance – John Szabo

Five to Try

Mauro Veglio Barolo del Commune di Serralunga 2023
This is a particularly fine and refined 2023 Serralunga Barolo, with lovely acids framing relatively gentle tannins, like raw silk, short-chained, even if density is solid. I like the bright, elegant red fruit. “It’s playful”, but also the more earthy, not to say vegetal-stemmy, character adding freshness. Density and concentration are above the mean. Excellent length and depth. Top stuff. Tasted September 2026.

Luigi Vico Barolo del Commune di Serralunga 2023
Lovely and spicy, with succulent, well balanced, pronounced, crunchy acids; fruit is not a main component as seems to be the case with the 2023s overall. Tannins are typically chalky, with good density and length. I like the even-keeled nature, the balance, the refinement and the saline character. A sophisticated and refined wine, drinking well early, a wine for the mid-term. Tasted September 2026.

Luigi Baudana Barolo del Commune di Serralunga 2023
Notably more red and less garnet in colour than the average in this horizontal 2023 vintage tasting of Serralunga Barolo; it shows good fruit purity, succulence, fine but chalky tannins and lovely sapidity. Elegant, balanced, fresh, a triumph for the vintage I’d say, made with evident care and ambition. It will surely develop into a more savoury range over the next 3-4 years, or hold mid-term. Really enjoying this modern style wine, intentional, soft and plush, one of the few 2023s with flesh on the bones. Tasted September 2026.

Paolo Manzone Barolo del Commune di Serralunga 2023
Pale red-red. Succulent, juicy red fruit emerges on the palate; tannins are very fine and elegant in the context. There’s fine density and weightless gravity, with subtle, lingering finish. Polished, well made, refined, a fine representative of the vintage. Tasted September 2026.

Ca’ Romé Barolo del Commune di Serralunga 2023
Lovely, traditional, delicate-firm, terrific length. A grand old dame, floral, orange peel, haunting length, sapid and saline. I love the botanical range of aromas, the citrus zest, the sweet and savoury herbs. Length is excellent. Highly successful and a sheer delight. Tasted September 2026.

That’s all for this special report, see you ’round the next bottle. 

 John Szabo, MS