Lodali
Piedmont, Italy
About Lodali
Sustainably farmed
"You need the best grapes" - said Giovanni Lodali in 1939 – "because wine is everywhere here and everyone knows about wine; if you don't make wine and you haven't made the right choices they go and buy elsewhere".
The story of this vineyard offers a vision of the tough existence in the Langhe hills. It is the story of Giovanni Lodali, a peasant and the son of peasant, who began to make wine for the customers at his small restaurant in Treiso, the only one existing in what was then a small village.
After the war Giovanni constructed a house and large cellar, this being the period which created the roots and hopes for the Lodali family, linked to Treiso. In 1955 his son Lorenzo obtained a diploma from the oenological school in Alba. In 1958 Lorenzo, along with his wife Rita, produced his first vineyard selection: Barbaresco and Barolo, business went well and the wines were also sold abroad.
In 1982 Lorenzo died. Rita, with her newborn son Walter, found the courage to continue and decided to carry on with the project, concentrating on quality and typical characteristics.
Walter, in his turn obtaining a diploma from the oenological school in Alba, was an even younger heir to the family business. Already involved in the world of wine, he brought new life, caring for and improving the terrain of the Bric Sant' Ambrogio and Rocche dei Sette Fratelli vineyards. He renewed the equipment in the cellars, perfecting wine-making and production techniques.
In 2005 the vineyard produced the Lorens, (Lorenzo in the Piemonte dialect) Barolo and Barbaresco reserve wines, using selected grapes of the best years from the Bric Sant' Ambrogio and Rocche dei Sette Fratelli vineyards. Giovanni, Lorenzo, Rita and Walter: three generations with their heart and roots in the Langa area.
latest reviews
“Barbaresco Rocche dei 7 Fratelli 2017
93 Wine Enthusiast
10/1/2020
Aromas of blue flowers, red berries and menthol with a whiff of tilled soil lift out of the glass. Full bodied and elegantly structured, the linear palate features juicy red cherry, strawberry compote and tobacco alongside firm, fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2031.
Barbaresco Rocche dei 7 Fratelli 2017
92 Wine Advocate
7/23/2020
The Lodali 2017 Barbaresco Rocche dei 7 Fratelli shows simple and classic lines, like an Italian automobile from the 1960s. I suppose the wine’s name might evoke the classic Luchino Visconti 1960 film “Rocco e i suoi fratelli,” or at least it does to my cinema-loving mind. The wine is silky and polished in texture with a delicate showing of small-berry fruit, raspberry, cola, tobacco and iron ore. The finish is a bit dry and thin, and that could be a consequence of this warm vintage. Production is 6,808 bottles.
Barolo Bricco Ambrogio 2016
93 Wine Advocate
7/23/2020
The Lodali 2016 Barolo Bricco Ambrogio opens to dry and pliant aromas of small berries, dusty earth and powdered licorice. The aromas are executed in small doses and tiny steps, building in intensity as the wine is given more time to open. I uncorked these samples the night before and kept them at 55 degrees Fahrenheit to taste. The Barolo Bricco Ambrogio is reticent, showing less of the flashy and fleshy fruit that you get in some of its more extracted peers. The wine also appears more accessible, and for that reason, I’m suggesting a near or medium-term drinking window. A mere 5,637 bottles were made.
Barolo Bricco Ambrogio 2016
93 Wine Enthusiast
10/1/2020
Aromas of red-skinned berry, forest floor and clove lead the way. The juicy, balanced palate features fresh red cherry, star anise and tobacco alongside youthful, fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Drink 2024–2032.”