14.5% ABV
Red Wine
Alba, Piedmont, Italy
The King of Italian Red Wine
In the fog-covered hills of Piedmont in northwestern Italy, a grape called Nebbiolo produces what many serious wine drinkers consider among the most profound red wines on earth. The name comes from the Italian word for fog, nebbia, a nod to the thick mists that settle over the Langhe hills each October when Nebbiolo, the last of the region’s varieties to ripen, is being harvested. The timing is not incidental. That slow, late ripening under cooling temperatures is part of what gives Nebbiolo its signature: pale in color despite its intensity, impressively tannic in youth, and built to evolve over decades into something of extraordinary complexity.
What makes Nebbiolo disconcerting to first-time drinkers is the gap between what you see and what you taste. The color is pale, suggesting lightness, but the palate is anything but. Nebbiolo carries ferocious tannins, high acidity, and a flavor profile that moves from cherry and dried flowers to iron, forest floor, and dark spice as the wine opens. At its highest expression, it requires a minimum of five years’ aging before release and can develop in the cellar for thirty or more. It has earned the title King of Italian wine, and nothing has seriously challenged it.
Five Generations in the Heart of Alba
The Pio Cesare winery was founded in 1881 by Cesare Pio; his own name reversed. He produced a small, select quantity of wines from the Barolo and Barbaresco hills for family, friends, and a handful of customers. Among the earliest producers in Piedmont to prioritize quality over volume, he later traveled throughout Europe promoting his wines, carrying a passport bearing the number 55, one of the first ever issued in Italy. The passport is displayed in the cellar in Alba. That cellar sits in the heart of the city, built into ancient Roman walls dating to the first century BC. Five generations of the same family have made wine there without interruption.
The fourth generation was led by Pio Boffa, named in honor of his great-grandfather’s surname, and he guided the estate for over forty years, responsible for transforming it into an exclusively estate-grown operation — every grape in every bottle coming from family-owned vineyards. He introduced Pio Cesare’s first single-vineyard Barolo, the Ornato, in 1985. Boffa acquired the prized Mosconi vineyard in Monforte d’Alba for his 60th birthday. He was, by every account, the force behind the winery’s modern era. Boffa passed away in April 2021, at the age of 66, in the same spring that the Nebbiolo vines for this vintage were just beginning to bud. The estate is now led by the fifth generation: his daughter, Federica Boffa, and his nephew, Cesare Benvenuto.
Pairing by: Erik Calviño
Tasting Notes: Pio Cesare Barolo DOCG 2021
The 2021 vintage in Barolo followed a long, cold winter and a consistently cool growing season, producing wines of classic structure and concentration rather than the rich opulence of warmer years. The 2021 Pio Cesare Barolo is mid-ruby in color with a nose of cherry, dried rose, licorice, clove, and subtle iron. On the palate, it is classic Barolo, firm, juicy, and structured with strong minerality. Grippy tannins and a long, earthy finish.
Cigar Pairing: Fuente Fuente Opus X Angels Share
The Fuente Fuente Opus X Angels Share is the kind of cigar that can stand up to a Barolo like the 2021 Pio Cesare without overwhelming it or your palate. It’s a delicate dance with this wine, but the Angels Share’s combination of cedar, cinnamon, leather, and sweet cream does it with ease. The Barolo unlocks notes of cherry and earth that were just beneath the surface in the Fuente. The cigar’s richness mutes the wine’s minerality for a sip, bringing more of the juicy fruit notes to the forefront for a moment, before returning to normal. The more time the wine spends in your glass, the more the pairing evolves. It is a fantastic pairing.
