Burlotto Barbera d'Alba 2020

During his 77 years as a winemaker (1850-1927), G.B. Burlotto’s accomplishments were rivaled only by those of Biondi-Santi and Vega Sicilia. G.B. achieved superstardom in a world dominated by French wines, with his authentic Piemontese reds wines grown in northern Italy. Today, Burlotto has emerged as one of Piemonte’s great small producers, thanks to the brilliant and highly traditional winemaking of G.B.’s great-great-grandson, Fabio Alessandria. 

G.B. Burlotto pioneered selling Barolo in bottle (not cask or demijohn), pre-dating even Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino. As the official supplier to the Royal House of Savoy—which once ruled Piemonte—he not only achieved personal fame, he made his village of Verduno as renowned as Serralunga or La Morra. G.B.’s death in 1927 not only took away Burlotto’s driving force, it also deprived Verduno of its greatest champion. And so both faded into obscurity in the decades that followed. But now, with G.B.’s great-great-grandson Fabio Alessandria as winemaker, Burlotto’s star is again rising, reclaiming its position as one of Piedmont’s great small producers.