Renato Fenocchio

 

Renato Fenocchio and Milva Giacone

Winemakers & Farmers
L’Azienda Agricola Renato Fenocchio
Nieve, Italy

The Fenocchio family settled in the Barbaresco region of northwestern Italy at the turn of the eighteenth century.  For four generations, Fenocchios have tilled the earth, cultivated grapes and hand-crafted beautiful wines - the land becoming apart of the family.  In 1993, the Fennochio family vineyards in Nieve, Italy were turned over to Renato and his wife Milva.  Much like his forefathers, Renato Fennochio carries on the winemaking traditions unique to the region and the family. 

The Agricola Fennochio vineyards now stretch over eleven hectares in the rolling hills of the Langa region.   Their Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso grapes benefit from diverse soil composition and sun exposure.  The variety allows for flexibility in determining which grapes are best suited to make into wine come harvest season. 

Not only do they have some of the best vineyards in the Barbaresco region, including parcels adjacent to Angelo Gaja’s, the family does all of the work themselves by hand.

The video clip is from our standard 3 hour interview with each farmer. Renato and his wife Milva spend a ridiculous amount of time in their vineyards. In fact, their grapes are so good that they often sell excess to Bruno Giacosa. In their vineyards, they perform over half a million (528,000) tasks by hand from January to October. That is amazingly hard work for two people. But you can taste the results in the quality of their wines.

No subtitles edited yet, but here’s the translation and then watch the video. 

Renato says, "You calculate…more or less from pruning to harvest, in a normal year, we have 11 to 13 manual operations per plant." I ask, "You have 11 hectares- how many plants is that?" After a brief consultation with Milva, Renato explains that they have approximately forty-four thousand (44,000) plants.

the farmstead wines collection 

Renato Fenocchio 2003 Barbaresco
Fruit on the nose with spices, black tea, leather, mint, lanolin and ripe tannins. High alcohol, but balanced acidity, nice length and aging potential; retasted after being open for 24 hours- sweet tannins, integrated wood, less fruit character, spicy, long finish

Renato Fenocchio 2004 Langhe Rosso Aurora
Cinnamon, dried figs and the typical character of a Barolo, ripe sweet tannins and a long finish with vanilla and leather notes

Renato Fenocchio 2006 Dolcetto
Powerful Dolcetto, intensely colored with fruit notes, firm tannins and a long finish. Pleasantly warm on the finish. 2nd taste opened up a bit showing more fresh fruitiness

Renato Fenocchio 2005 Barbera d’Alba Elena
Plums, wild animals, round and fruity in the mouth, tannins firm, even slightly aggressive, finish is long and balanced

Renato Fenocchio 2006 Barbera d’Alba Elena (tank and barrel samples)
Deep purple, 1st smell is slightly alkholisch, but opens into nice berry fruit with round and ripe tannins, showing its overall balance

Renato Fenocchio 2006 I tò pàss
Late harvested and dried for several months before pressing and fermentation. Inbued with golden raisins, honey and hazelnuts with a perfect balance between acidity and sweetness