Azelia

“Azelia remains one of the undiscovered jewels in Barolo.” – Antonio Galloni, Vinous

“…wines from [Luigi] Scavino’s estate, Azelia, can hold their own with the very best of the region. The wines combine power and elegance with a level of virtuosity matched by few in the region…” – The Wine Advocate

A quiet achiever, this one-hundred-year-old Barolo producer is in it for the long game.

Lorenzo Scavino founded Azelia in 1920 in Castiglione Falletto. Five generations later, the Scavino family hold steadfast in their position as a lauded producer of the region. Time, patience and care are the hallmarks of their winemaking approach, showcasing “maniacal carefulness and attention” in the vineyard.

“We believe that wine is made essentially in the vineyards, with passion, where the quality of the grapes is imperative.”

The Azelia philosophy is to see reflected in each bottle the efforts in the vineyard, rather than the winemaking. Site is paramount. No chemical fertilisers or pesticides are used, no fining or filtration, and a green harvest is carried out at least twice each year to ensure the remaining grapes attain the highest level of concentration possible. Grapes are hand harvested and sorted, treated with the utmost care.

Luigi Scavino waited a patient thirty years for the right conditions to release their exceptional Cerretta Barolo. The 2019 Azelia Cerretta ranked as the #1 Barolo for 2019 by The Real Review (topping the likes of Guiseppe Rinaldi, Sordo, Chiara Boschis and Burlotto), and the 2018 Cerretta was ranked at #2 in the previous year.

The 2.5 hectare Cerretta vineyard was replanted in 1992 by Luigi while he was still renting it, a huge gamble which showed the depth of his dedication to the long game, before he successfully purchased the site some years later. The fruit was first used in the Barolo Classico for the decades it took the vines to reach an optimum age. The outstanding Cerretta Cru has only seen four releases since its inauguration, beginning with the 2016 vintage.

Today we are offering a rare and extremely limited vertical of the Azelia Cerretta Barolo showcasing each of the four vintages, from 2016 to 2019, all scoring between 97 and 98 points each.

The Azelia wines have become our go-to Piedmont recommendations for any customer looking for balance, power, elegance, and pedigree. If this producer is not on your radar, they should be.