From the atlas
Damilano Azienda Agricola
At A Glance
- Country: Italy
- Region: Piemonte
- Village / Appellation: Barolo DOCG, Langhe
- Grape: Nebbiolo
- Range: Langhe Nebbiolo Marghe, Barolo, four single-vineyard crus (Cannubi, Brunate, Liste, Fossati), Cannubi Riserva 1752
- Flagship: Barolo Cannubi, Cannubi Riserva 1752
The Producer
Damilano Azienda Agricola is a family estate based in the Barolo township of Piemonte, making Barolo DOCG from Nebbiolo in four named single-vineyard parcels, with the Cannubi cru at the centre of everything the estate does. Cannubi is a low, south-facing hill in Barolo township, one of the most precisely documented vineyards in the Langhe. Damilano's history in it runs back to the estate's founding.
The winery was established in 1890 by Giuseppe Borgogno. His son-in-law Giacomo Damilano later assumed control, and the estate took the Damilano name under his management. In 1997 three brothers, Guido, Mario, and Paolo Damilano, took over and built the winery's presence in international markets. The range now runs from an entry Langhe Nebbiolo through village Barolo and four separately vinified crus, with the Cannubi Riserva 1752 at the top, requiring close to seven years from harvest to release.
Place
Barolo is a wine zone in the Langhe hills of southern Piemonte, built around Nebbiolo and governed by the DOCG designation. The zone divides broadly into two soil types. The western communes, including Barolo township and La Morra, sit on chalky-clayish marlstone: sedimentary soils formed in the Serravallian and Tortonian geological periods, relatively loose, with high sand content. The eastern communes, centred on Serralunga d'Alba and Castiglione Falletto, rest on more compact, iron-rich limestone. That geological split drives real differences in wine character: the western soils produce Barolo with softer tannin grain and earlier-opening fruit; the eastern soils give wine with more grip and longer ageing curves.
Cannubi lies in Barolo township, on the western side of the zone. A label reading Barolo Cannubi names that specific hill. A label reading Barolo carries the broader DOCG designation across estate parcels.
Soil And Site
The Cannubi vineyard sits on chalky-clayish marlstone interspersed with a high percentage of sand and Marls of Sant'Agata, formed in the Serravallian and Tortonian geological periods. The relatively high sand content within that marlstone base loosens the soil, easing root penetration and moderating the tannin extraction that Nebbiolo can produce on harder ground. The result, in Cannubi Barolo, is a tannin profile that is smooth rather than angular, backed by the freshness and moderate sapidity that the site's acidity supports.
Story
Giuseppe Borgogno planted in Cannubi and built a small estate at the end of the nineteenth century. The winery passed to his son-in-law Giacomo Damilano, who gave the estate its current name and began the production decisions that shaped its modern approach. Extended maceration and large-format oak ageing were central to how the Cannubi fruit was handled: long skin contact to build the tannin frame, then slow development in large casks rather than the smaller barriques that arrived in Barolo during the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1997 the third generation arrived. Guido, Mario, and Paolo Damilano took over management and redirected the estate's commercial strategy, building export relationships that moved Damilano Cannubi into international markets. The four single-vineyard crus, Cannubi, Brunate, Liste, and Fossati, were each developed as separately vinified wines rather than components of a blended village Barolo. Cannubi remained the anchor.
Vineyards And Cellar
The four single-vineyard crus are vinified separately from the moment of harvest. Cannubi fruit goes through a fermentation period of twenty days, followed by thirty days of maceration on the skins. Extended maceration at this length extracts deep colour and builds tannin density, but on Cannubi's sandy marlstone that tannin comes out smooth rather than coarse. After maceration the wine moves to large oak casks, where it ages for five years. Large-format oak transfers less new-oak character than smaller barriques, allowing the Nebbiolo's fruit, acidity, and tannin to develop without heavy wood overlay. Two years of bottle ageing follow before release.
The standard Cannubi Barolo follows a shorter arc: a three-year production cycle. The Riserva 1752 takes the same fruit through the longer, seven-year sequence, building the concentration and layered development that Riserva status requires under Barolo DOCG law.
Wines
The range opens with Langhe Nebbiolo Marghe, a DOC wine from Nebbiolo at entry level, lighter in extraction and earlier to drink than anything in the Barolo line.
The Barolo village-level wine carries the DOCG designation from estate parcels, blended rather than single-vineyard, with the broader fruit and approachability that blending across sites tends to produce.
Above the village wine sit the four crus, each vinified from a single named vineyard. Brunate, Liste, and Fossati each represent a distinct Langhe site and different soil expression. Cannubi is the estate's main address: a Nebbiolo wine from the historic hill in Barolo township, with smooth tannins, perceptible freshness, and the moderate sapidity the soil delivers. Tannins are present but not hard; the acidity keeps the wine alive rather than heavy.
Cannubi Riserva 1752 sits at the top. Fermentation and maceration are both extended (twenty days and thirty days respectively), oak ageing runs five years in large casks, and two further years pass in bottle before the wine leaves the cellar. The concentration is deeper, the oak integration longer, and the tannin frame more developed than in the standard Cannubi. The name 1752 is a reference to one of the earliest documented planting records associated with the Cannubi vineyard.
In The Glass
Cannubi Barolo opens with the dried rose and tar character that Nebbiolo on Serravallian-Tortonian marlstone tends to give: red-fruit aromatics, a slight iron note, and a faint violet lift. In the mouth the tannins arrive early but run smooth rather than jagged, reflecting the sandy component in the Cannubi soil. The acidity is firm, giving freshness and length without sharpness. Sapidity, a mineral quality on the finish, runs through the mid-palate and extends the close. There is no heavy oak overlay because the ageing vessel is large-format: wood influence is present as framing rather than flavour.
Across the range, the Riserva 1752 takes the same aromatic character deeper: the tannin frame is more pronounced, the mid-palate more concentrated, the finish longer. The village Barolo is more open and round. The entry Langhe Nebbiolo carries lighter extraction with earlier fruit.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Barolo Cannubi. It is the estate's defining wine: Nebbiolo from one named hill on chalky-clayish marlstone, aged in large oak casks over three years, released with smooth tannins and that freshness-plus-sapidity combination the Cannubi soil produces. The aromatics are dried rose and tar, the palate is firm without being austere, and the finish is mineral and clean. No new-oak character dominates. It gives a clear account of what the Cannubi hill does with Nebbiolo, and it does so without the seven-year patience the Riserva demands.
Anecdote
The Cannubi Riserva 1752 enters the cellar and does not leave for seven years. Twenty days of fermentation on the skins, then thirty days of extended maceration: that alone is longer than the full production cycle of many Langhe entry wines. Then the wine moves into large Slavonian oak casks for five years, then into bottle for two more before the cork goes in. The standard Cannubi bottling takes three years. Damilano chose to name the longer wine 1752, reaching back to one of the earliest documented records of planting on the Cannubi hill, and the choice of that number over a family name or a vineyard descriptor was deliberate: the wine's age, they were saying, belonged to the hill, not the house.
Final Word
Damilano's case rests on a single hillside in Barolo township. Cannubi is a documented site with a specific soil type, and the estate's commitment to extended maceration and large-format oak ageing reflects a particular argument about how that fruit should be handled. The Cannubi Barolo is approachable enough to drink within a decade; the Riserva 1752 is built for considerably longer. Both start from the same place.
Sources
- https://cantinedamilano.it/en/about-us/
- https://www.stradadelbarolo.it/en/members/damilano/
- https://thechosentable.com/2018/10/05/cannubi-a-grand-cru-of-barolo-damilano-winery-in-piedmont-italy/