The Wines

Six magnums, six benchmark crus, provided by Noble Estates — poured to trace the arc of David Gleave’s four decades in the Langhe, and to put Barolo & Barbaresco: The Primacy of the Vine directly in the glass. Since the book covers both appellations, Académie du Vin is rounding out the evening with an array of Barbaresco from its own cellar, alongside the six Noble Estates magnums en route from Piemonte.

We open with Bellavista, Franciacorta Alma Assemblage 2 — a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc aged an average of 30 months on the lees, with notes of pomelo, white plum, and wildflower honey carried on a fine, persistent mousse. A benchmark Extra Brut from one of Franciacorta’s founding houses, and a fitting start to an evening built around terroir.

Barolo crus:

• Vietti, Barolo Brunate 2021 (magnum) — one of the most celebrated crus straddling La Morra and Barolo, from a house that’s been synonymous with terroir-driven Barolo since the 1950s. Perfume and precision over power.
• Vietti, Barolo Lazzarito 2021 (magnum) — Vietti’s expression of Serralunga d’Alba’s structured, tannic soils, a study in contrast against the Brunate.
• Borgogno, Barolo DOCG Liste 2021 (magnum) — from Piemonte’s oldest winery (est. 1761), still made in the large Slavonian botti that define the traditionalist style Gleave champions in the book.
• Mirafiore, Barolo DOCG Paiagallo 2021 (magnum) — the estate founded for Emanuele Alberto, Count of Mirafiore, son of King Vittorio Emanuele II — a piece of Barolo’s royal origin story.
• Fontanafredda, Barolo DOCG Lazzarito “Vigna La Delizia” 2021 (magnum) — a single named parcel within the Lazzarito cru, from the royal hunting estate the same king built for his mistress, Rosa Vercellana. Poured beside the Mirafiore, the two wines tell one family’s story from opposite sides.
• Gagliardo, Barolo DOCG Serra dei Turchi 2021 (magnum) — a La Morra house built on old vines and minimal intervention, closing the evening on a modern-traditionalist note.
• Selections from Académie du Vin’s cellar — a Barbaresco or two, poured to complete the pairing the book’s title promises.

The Barbaresco:

From Académie du Vin’s own cellar, four Barbaresco spanning more than two decades — two mature 1997s alongside more recent vintages from Gaja and La Spinetta:

• Gaja, Barbaresco 2019 — from the producer most responsible for putting Barbaresco on the world stage; a blend drawn from the estate’s benchmark cru sites, and as close to icon status as the appellation gets.
• Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy, Barbaresco Martinenga 1997 — from the Grésy family’s Martinenga vineyard, a rare monopole owned entirely by the estate and one of Barbaresco’s most storied single sites.
• Marchesi di Barolo, Barbaresco Riserva 1997 — from the historic Falletti house credited with helping codify Barolo as we know it in the 19th century; this Riserva is a rare chance to taste a fully mature Barbaresco from a celebrated vintage.
• La Spinetta (Rivetti), Barbaresco Vürsù Vigneto Valeirano 2016 — the Rivetti family’s single-vineyard bottling from the Valeirano cru in Neive, from a producer that helped push Barbaresco toward a richer, more concentrated modern style.

All six magnums, plus this run of Barbaresco, are a fitting way to mark the release of a book that treats these two appellations as inseparable halves of the same story.