$99.99 per bottle, shipping included on 4 bottles or more

Our relationship began with Scarzello after hearing of its more or less recent renaissance from several friends on the ground in Barolo who know of what they speak. At the time, it wasn’t available in the United States but I sourced a few bottles in Italy and it was as good as advertised. Fast forward a few years and the wines of Federico Scarzello are now as popular with PRIMA’s Barolo-loving customers as they are anywhere else! Their wines have been a sensation here, selling out almost immediately upon arrival and leaving us begging for more. The 2022 Scarzello Langhe Nebbiolo was even one of PRIMA’s Wines of the Year in 2024 and the 2016 version of the Vigna Merenda was among our best-selling wines of that august vintage.   Federico, by the way, is the third generation of Scarzello to run the family cellars located just steps away from Barolo castle. Though the family’s first bottling from their now organically-farmed vines in the Sarmassa, Paiagallo and Terlo MGAs was in 1978, it wasn’t until Fede returned to the fold from enology school in Alba in 1998 that the Scarzello star began to ascend. Firmly in the traditionalist camp, he brings an incredible amount of passion and skill to his work, and the fact that he’s working with a vineyard as well regarded as Sarmassa doesn’t hurt either. Bordering La Morra’s Cerequio to its immediate west and Cannubi-San Lorenzo to the east, Sarmassa is a special, very heterogeneous spot and the sub-parcel called Vigna Merenda is really just a continuation of the Cerequio slope, just on the Barolo side of the border with La Morra. (check out Masnaghetti’s excellent map- the yellow is all the Merenda parcel) This single-site cuvee is only made in the most auspicious vintages and gets a longer maceration in cement followed by, depending on the harvest, upwards of 30 months in large Slavonian oak casks before bottling. The result is a classic bottle of Barolo, heady with dark plums and cherry confiture, camphor-balsamic-cedar, hot, dry earth, anise-y spice and rich, round tannins. Of course this being a 2019, it’s very well filled with lots of delicious, concentrated cherry fruit and a blackberry patch’s worth of summer bramble, wild strawberry and mulberry. Cedar, lantana and bitter chocolate also take front and center in a medium- to full-bodied Nebbiolo that only requires time to become one of the best wines in the cellar! Very highly recommended. 

Wine Enthusiast: This Barolo from Vigna Merenda, a subsection of the Sarmassa cru, displays a distinctive aromatic profile, with wild bramble berries and a hint of hen of the woods mushroom that mingle with savory spices and leafy herbal notes. The palate is firm and taut, with a robust structure that suggests this wine stay in the cellar for some time. The black cherry, savory herbs and earth flavors are all present today but will reward those that wait. Drink 2026 – 2045 94 points