From the atlas
Azienda Agricola Lodali Walter
At A Glance
Producer: Azienda Agricola Lodali Walter Village: Treiso Appellation: Barbaresco DOCG, Langhe DOC Primary Grape: Nebbiolo Hectares: 16 Founded: 1939 Current Owner: Walter Lodali with Rita Lodali
The Producer
Giovanni Lodali started making wine in 1939 not to build a cellar empire but to fill the glasses at his restaurant in Treiso. That practical origin, wine grown and poured in the same village, shaped everything that followed. The estate now carries his name in a modified form, Azienda Agricola Lodali Walter, with Walter being Giovanni's grandson and the third generation to work these 16 hectares of Langhe vines.
Walter runs the estate alongside his mother Rita, known locally as Mamma Rita. The operation is small and deliberate: Barbaresco as the central wine, Nebbiolo as the central grape, Treiso as the address that does not change.
Place
Treiso is one of three comuni that together form the Barbaresco DOCG zone in southern Piemonte, alongside the villages of Barbaresco and Neive. Barbaresco is a red wine made exclusively from Nebbiolo, and the appellation law requires a minimum of 26 months ageing with at least 9 of those months in wood. The Lodali estate sits entirely within this zone.
Treiso sits on the southern side of the Tanaro river valley, on slopes that face broadly northeast. Wines from Treiso tend to carry slightly softer tannin than those from the Serralunga area in nearby Barolo, though Nebbiolo grown anywhere in these hills still builds firm tannin and bright, food-sharpening acidity. The Barbaresco zone as a whole produces wines that are leaner and higher-acid than the big Barolo communes to the west, and Treiso sits comfortably within that profile.
Soil And Site
The Langhe hills around Treiso are composed primarily of Helvetian and Tortonian sedimentary layers, the calcareous marl and clay soils that characterise much of the Barbaresco zone. These soils drain well on the steeper slopes and contribute to the firm tannic backbone that marks Nebbiolo from this part of Piemonte. The Giacone vineyard, from which Lodali sources fruit for the Lorens cuvée, sits within this zone, though detailed soil mapping for the specific parcel is not available in confirmed sources.
Story
Giovanni Lodali opened his winery in 1939. He was a restaurateur first, and wine was what his kitchen needed. He grew it, made it, and served it across the table. What began as a supply chain for a single dining room became, across three generations, a 16-hectare estate with a full commercial range.
Walter took charge of daily operations with his mother Rita after the second generation had carried the estate through the postwar decades. The decision to maintain a tight geographic focus, all vines in Treiso, all red wine centred on Nebbiolo, reflects a continuity of purpose rather than expansion. The prestige cuvée, Lorens, emerged as the estate's most considered statement: a single-vineyard Barbaresco aged in large Austrian oak barrels rather than the small French barriques that became fashionable in Piemonte during the 1980s and 1990s. That choice kept wood character secondary and Nebbiolo character primary.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate farms approximately 16 hectares in Treiso. The Giacone vineyard supplies the fruit for Lorens, the flagship Barbaresco.
In the cellar, Lorens spends 25 months in 25-hectolitre Austrian oak barrels before a further 12 months in bottle before release. The barrel size matters: at 25 hectolitres, the ratio of wine to wood surface is lower than in a standard 225-litre barrique, which means the wine extracts less tannin and vanilla character from the oak itself. The Nebbiolo's own tannin, rather than oak-derived tannin, sets the wine's tannin profile. Acidity is preserved rather than softened, and fruit character reads as dark cherry and dried rose rather than vanilla or toast.
The estate also produces wines under the Langhe DOC, a broader appellation covering the Langhe hills and permitting a wider set of grape varieties. A Langhe Chardonnay appears in the range, confirming white wine production alongside the Nebbiolo-based bottles.
Wines
The range centres on two appellations: Barbaresco DOCG for the Nebbiolo-based wines, and Langhe DOC for the broader range.
Lorens is the prestige Barbaresco: 100% Nebbiolo from the Giacone vineyard in Treiso, aged 25 months in large Austrian oak barrels followed by 12 months in bottle. It is the longest-aged wine in the range and the one that most clearly expresses the estate's cellar philosophy. Firm tannin, high acidity, and dark fruit built on a Nebbiolo base that the large-format oak has left largely undisturbed.
The estate's other Barbaresco bottlings sit at the appellation level, built from Treiso fruit under the same DOCG rules requiring 26 months minimum ageing. These wines share the lean, high-acid Nebbiolo profile of the Treiso zone but carry lighter tannin and shorter ageing than Lorens.
The Langhe DOC range includes the Chardonnay bottling, a white wine produced from the broader Langhe area. It stands apart from the Nebbiolo focus of the estate but confirms that Lodali works with more than one grape across its 16 hectares.
In The Glass
Nebbiolo from Treiso opens with dark cherry, dried roses, and a faint tar note that is characteristic of the grape regardless of origin. On the palate the tannin arrives early, firm and grippy rather than thick, and the acidity runs through the wine from front to finish. There is no sweetness to soften either.
In Lorens, the large Austrian oak barrels have kept wood flavour from registering as a primary note: the cherry and rose character stays forward, and the tannin reads as grape-derived rather than barrel-derived. The finish is long and dry, with the acidity and tannin working together to leave the palate clean and ready for food. These are wines built to be drunk at table, not as aperitifs, and they need at least a few years in bottle after release to begin opening up.
The appellation-level Barbaresco bottlings from Lodali share the same lean, high-acid profile but with slightly less tannic weight and an earlier drinking window.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Lorens Barbaresco. It is 100% Nebbiolo from the Giacone vineyard in Treiso, aged 25 months in large Austrian oak barrels and then 12 months in bottle. The wine is dry, firmly tannic, and high-acid, with dark cherry and dried rose on the nose and a clean, mineral finish. The barrel choice tells you something concrete about what Lodali is doing: no small barriques, no vanilla overlay, Nebbiolo left to express the grape and the place rather than the cellar. Open it with aged cheese or braised meat, give it an hour in a decanter if it is a young vintage, and it will be clear why Barbaresco from a small Treiso estate built around a single grape has earned its place in the Langhe.
Anecdote
In 1939 Giovanni Lodali needed wine for his restaurant in Treiso. Rather than buy it from a neighbouring producer, he made it himself from vines he farmed on the slopes above the village. The wine went from vineyard to table within the same small radius. Giovanni had no plan to build an estate in any formal sense; he had a restaurant that needed Nebbiolo and a piece of land that could supply it. The estate bottlings, the DOCG certifications, the prestige cuvée named Lorens, the third-generation winemaker: all of that came later. What started was simpler. A restaurateur in Treiso in 1939 decided that the wine on his tables should come from his own hands.
Final Word
Lodali Walter is a small, focused estate doing one thing with care: Nebbiolo from Treiso, aged the old way in large barrels, bottled without shortcuts. Giovanni started it for a restaurant. Walter continues it for the bottle. The wines carry firm tannin, high acidity, and dark fruit from a grape and a zone that have been making wine together for a long time.
Sources
- https://www.lodali.it/en/
- https://www.lodali.it/en/our-wines/barbaresco-lorens/
- https://www.empson.com/wine_producer/lodali/