Barolo Boys

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Barolo Boys
Barolo Boys poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byPaolo Casalis and Tiziano Gaia
Written byPaolo Casalis and Tiziano Gaia
Produced byStuffilm Creativeye
StarringElio Altare,
Giorgio Rivetti,
Marco de Grazia,
Chiara Boschis,
Joe Bastianich,
Carlo Petrini,
Oscar Farinetti
Distributed byProduzioni Fuorifuoco
Release date
  • September 30, 2014 (2014-09-30)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguagesItalian, English

Barolo Boys. The Story of a Revolution (Italian : Barolo Boys. Storia di una Rivoluzione) is a 2014 documentary film about the story of a group of young winemakers (after called the Barolo Boys) who in the 1980s and '90s dramatically changed the world of Barolo wine, in the Langhe, north-western Italy. In December 2014 documentary won the DOC Wine Travel Food Prize 2014, for the best film on wine and food themes.

Contents

The film depicts the last thirty years of technical innovations and changes in the story of Barolo, a red wine produced from Nebbiolo grapes, almost unknown until the 1970s (apart from its land of origin, an area of 11 communes in the Langhe) and now considered one of the best red wines in the world. This is partly due to the work and innovations of the Barolo Boys, or Modernists, who introduced a series of technical innovations in the world of Italian wine.

The film focuses on these innovations, and the contrasts that derived from these changes, but also depicts the friendship and spirit of the group behind these producers and their success. The documentary is filmed in the Langhe landscape, which has recently become Unesco World Heritage Site.

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Barolo is a red Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines.

Nebbiolo Variety of Italian red wine grape

Nebbiolo is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Gattinara, Carema and Ghemme. Nebbiolo is thought to derive its name from the Italian nebbia or Piedmontese nebia, meaning "fog". During harvest, which generally takes place late in October, a deep, intense fog sets into the Langhe region where many Nebbiolo vineyards are located. Alternative explanations refers to the fog-like glaucous veil that forms over the berries as they reach maturity, or that perhaps the name is derived instead from the Italian word nobile, meaning noble. Nebbiolo produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses. As they age, the wines take on a characteristic brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and mature to reveal other aromas and flavors such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, truffles, tobacco, and prunes. Nebbiolo wines can require years of aging to balance the tannins with other characteristics.

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Langhe UNESCO World Heritage Site in Piedmont, Italy

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