Giacomo Fenocchio

He is ‘a master at crafting classic Barolos that beautifully express their pedigree’, as Kerin O’Keefe puts it. Claudio Fenocchio succeeded his father Giacomo at the helm of the family winery in 1989. It was a time when Barolo was riven with division; ‘modernists’ were having big commercial success pursuing a new way of making Barolo. But Claudio was determined to keep making Barolo the way his father and grandfather had, with long, slow fermentations on the skins, and aging only in large Slavonian casks. It was a decision that time has vindicated; the wines of Fenocchio are now renowned for their Barolo terroir transparency. And it helps, of course, that Claudio has such fine vineyards to work with. It was mainly his father Giacomo who, over the years, built up holdings in what he saw as the finest vineyards in the area. Castellero, Villero, and what are now the historic heartland sections of Bussia and Cannubi. (NT 13/05/25)