Overview
Roncaglie is a menzione geografica aggiuntiva (MGA) of the Barbaresco DOCG in the commune of Barbaresco, one of the 66 additional geographic mentions of the Barbaresco DOCG, a system introduced in 2007. The site covers about 13 hectares at the southern end of the commune, near the hamlet of Tre Stelle on the hillside rising toward Treiso. It forms a steep, south to southwest facing amphitheatre. A single estate, Poderi Colla, owns roughly eight of the thirteen hectares, so most Barbaresco Roncaglie on the market comes from one cellar.
History
Roncaglie has one of the longer documented ownership histories among Barbaresco crus. The hill belonged to the noble Galleani family from 1693; the property was subdivided in 1797 and sold off entirely in 1821. The site is cited in Lorenzo Fantini's late nineteenth-century monograph on the viticulture and oenology of the province of Cuneo, the standard early reference for Langhe vineyard reputations. In 1992 the Colla family, led by Beppe Colla, the longtime owner of Prunotto, with his brother Tino and daughter Federica, acquired the Tenuta Roncaglie; the first estate vintage followed in 1993, and Poderi Colla has since been the MGA's principal producer. Barbaresco itself became a DOC in 1966 and a DOCG in 1980, and the MGA delimitation that fixed Roncaglie's boundaries was approved in 2007.
Terroir & Climate
The vineyards lie between roughly 240 and 280 metres above sea level on a steep slope exposed south to southwest. Soils belong to the Sant'Agata Fossili marls, calcareous marl interbedded with sand, the formation underlying much of the commune of Barbaresco. The amphitheatre shape concentrates light and warmth, giving full ripeness at moderate elevation, while the marl base preserves the acidity and tannic frame typical of Nebbiolo grown in the commune.
Grape Varieties & Wine Styles
Barbaresco Roncaglie is 100 percent Nebbiolo under the DOCG rules: minimum 26 months of aging with 9 in wood, 50 months for Riserva, and at least 12.5 percent alcohol. Poderi Colla also maintains a small parcel of older Barbera within the tenuta, released outside the Barbaresco denomination. The wines of the site are made in a traditional register and are generally aromatic and structured rather than heavy, with the emphasis on perfume, minerality and length; Poderi Colla's Riserva, dedicated to Beppe Colla, represents the longest-aged expression.
Notable Producers
Poderi Colla holds the majority of the MGA, about eight hectares, and bottles Barbaresco Roncaglie and the Barbaresco Riserva Roncaglie Beppe Colla. Socré, a family estate in the village of Barbaresco with holdings at the foot of its farmhouse, produces a Barbaresco Roncaglie. Mura Mura also releases a bottling from the site.
What to Know
Roncaglie belongs to the commune of Barbaresco, although the slope faces Treiso and the hamlet of Tre Stelle sits close by; commune lists that place it under Treiso are incorrect. It should not be confused with Roncagliette, the adjacent MGA that borders Roncaglie at its top and contains the vineyards behind Gaja's Sorì Tildin and Costa Russi bottlings. Because Poderi Colla controls well over half the surface, vintage-to-vintage comparison of the cru is largely a comparison of that estate's work; Socré and Mura Mura provide the minority readings of the site.