2021 Guido Porro, Barolo DOCG “Vigna Lazzairasco” Piemonte, Italy.
I’m a fan of the Guido Porro wines, especially the varietal bottlings including the Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto offerings, but if you get the chance, don’t pass up their excellent Barolo, like this gorgeous Vigna Lazzairasco, which, as the winery notes is a sub-parcel owned exclusively by Porro within the famous cru Lazzarito, one of the great sites within Barolo and made legendary by Vietti in recent times. The dark ruby/brick hued 2021 is both elegant and well structured with tons of soulful and rustic charm, that should serve it well for decades to come, though it doesn’t penalized you for opening it in the near term, especially if decanted and enjoyed with a meal. The full bodied pure Nebbiolo palate speaks of place with earthy red berry, damson plum, cherry and huckleberry fruits, as well as subtle meaty notes, rose petal florals, cedary spice, orange tea, underbrush, chalky stones and minty black licorice. The tannin and acidity are there and they should be, so no surprises and the length is fabulous here, reminding you of this wine’s pedigree. Grown on limestone and clay marl at close to 350 meters up on a southwest facing slope, the mature vines, dating back to the early sixties, Vigna Lazzairasco gets the best of its terroir and transmits that directly into the bottle.
Guido Porro, imported to the United States by Kermit Lynch, is a fourth generation Piemonte estate that was originally founded in 1900 and has been focused on Barolo, crafting excellent and under the radar examples that offer outstanding value. In recent years Porro changed the label to a much more attractive retro design, based on Guido’s grandfathers original label, and that cosmetic update has given this winery more gravitas on the wine store shelves and gives a sense of the true quality and style that is in the bottle, much more than the previous one. The Vigna Lazzairasco Barolo sees a very traditional regime with the hand picked grapes seeing a cool maceration and vat fermentation before spending three full years in large neutral Botti before bottling. As mentioned in prior reviews, Kermit Lynch now has a top notch collection of Piemonte wineries these days, they have really upped their game here, adding new stars like Giulia Negri and Camillo Favaro, which are outstanding and highly coveted producers. I got to also try Porro’s Barolo from the parcel in the famed Lazzarito (Grand) Cru, which was awesome and it should be noted that they also have a plot in the fabled Vigna Rionda, which is maybe the most sought after wine in the lineup. These wines are well worth searching out and I recommend stocking up on the Porro Barbera too, which I reviewed last fall, it is an absolutely killer value.
($65 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive