Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc:
[pah-o-lo skah-vee-no b(l)reek dehl
fyahsk]
Following the death of their father, Alfonso and Paolo
Scavino divided their father’s vineyard holdings
in the commune of Castiglione Falletto. Paolo chose
an eponymous title for his estate, which included a
two-hectare plot in Falletto’s Fiasco cru known
as Bric dël Fiasc, situated in Castiglione Falletto.
Fiasco rests at an altitude of 260 meters and its soil
is predominantly tufa-based, featuring a combination
of silt-sand and marl. While established in 1921, the
site was first represented via a single-vineyard bottling
in 1978, a production Paolo undertook at the behest
of his son, Enrico. The Scavino estate’s premiere
cru production and most renowned bottling, Bric dël
Fiasc is now one of four cru wines in the portfolio
(Cannubi, Rocche dell’Annunziata Riserva, and
Bricco Ambrogio are the other single-vineyard Barolos).
Bric dël Fiasc characteristically carries the most
formidable structure of Scavino’s Barolos, an
austere sensibility coupled with imposing power. This
state of profound tension is ameliorated only through
an extended period of cellaring, which typically transpires
over 20 years.
Traditional or modern? It may seem like a simple,
straightforward question. But in Piemonte, there are
no easy answers where style is concerned. While there
used to be a very fine line between the two styles,
this narrow middle ground has virtually exploded,
rendering classification almost impossible. For a
time, though, there was only one unequivocal answer
to the question of Scavino’s orientation—in
a word, modern. In 1993, Scavino divested his Barolo
aging regimen of all Slavonian oak and began using
rotary fermenters. While this radical stylistic shift—prior
to that time, Scavino aged his Barolos in Slavonian
oak—effectively served to brand Scavino as a
modernist, it never really established itself as the
reigning house style.
In 1998, just a few years into the new regime, Scavino
brought the Slavonian oak back, abandoning the sole
barrique protocol for a more balanced approach—one
year of aging in barrique, followed by one year in
cask. He didn’t merely reinstate it, going back
for the sake of tradition: It is Scavino’s firm
conviction that the wine that is Barolo requires both
barrique and cask. He also extended the maceration
period for his Barolos (which is conducted in rotary
fermenters) by two to three days. The 1999 vintage
was the first to hail from this integrated approach—a
place where balancing is not an act, but an art.
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Bric dël Fiasc
Wine: Barolo
Producer: Paolo
Scavino
Varietal(s): Nebbiolo
Region: Piemonte
Province: Cuneo
Commune: Castiglione Falletto
Vineyard(s): Fiasco
Altitude: 260 meters
Exposure: Southwest
Classification: Barolo DOCG
First Year: 1978
Bottle Production: an average of 700 to 900 cases,
depending on the vintage
More Landmark Wines:
Voerzio Barolo Brunate
Sandrone Cannubi
Boschis Clerico Ciabot
Ginestra
Vintages
1989
Barolo Bric dël Fiasc 1990
Barolo Bric dël Fiasc
2004 Barolo Bric dël Fiasc |
