Verduno was long one of the most obscure villages of Barolo. Stuck way up in the northern corner of the DOC, away from the tour buses and truffle shops, the geekiest of Barolo lovers knew it for the airier examples of Barolo that didn't seem to please international markets. Very few producers even bothered exporting the wines.

Then something happened. Mostly what happened is Burlotto, and especially their superstar single Cru in Verduno known as Monvigliero. That wine, made in the traditionalist method that has been returning to fashion, awoke wine lovers to the greatness of Verduno.

Genealogy can normally be pretty boring, but in the case of the Castello di Verduno it tells you almost everything you need to know about the estate. Ancestor One was a Burlotto who inherited from his Mom and Dad the castle itself, along with vines in Monvigliero and other great Verduno sites. Ancestor Two was a member of the Barbaresco family of Franco Bianco. Thanks to this marriage of Barbaresco and Burlotto, the CdV now owns Barolo in Monvigliero and Barbaresco in Rabaja!

Wine-making is traditional, with 30-40 day macerations and aging in large Slavonian casks. But don't assume this makes for big, brooding wines. Verdunois known, as noted above, for those airier examples of Barolo, and the Castello’s wines are definitely elegant and lack the forbidding structure of, say, a Serralunga. That’s terroir.