Winemaker Note
With his friend Luca Roagna, Clay McLachlan planted a stunning hillside vineyard at an altitude of 610 ~ 650 meters in Bonvicino, just outside the prestigious Piedmont terroirs. Together, they vinify small quantities of this complex wine that stands tall among its neighbors.
Given the high altitude and cooler temperatures of his property, McLachlan’s grapes are harvested during the last ten days of October, often a 10 days to two weeks after the harvest has been completed in Barolo. Once picked, the grapes are strictly sorted, then brought to the Roagna winery in Castiglione Faletto, where they are de-stemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in wooded vats with a maceration time of 30 – 50 days depending on the vintage using both pump-overs and submerged cap “Capello Sommers.” Following the traditional Roagna winemaking protocols, the wine is aged in a small botti for 24 months before bottling, then held for one to two years at a minimum before being released. As with Roagna’s own Langhe Rosso, McLachlan’s wine is bottled as a “Vino Rosso” to allow for total freedom from the strict rules governing where the grapes come from and how the wine is made.