An app to discover the "MeGa" of Barolo and Barbaresco

The new apps, one of which is available, will include the official maps of Barolo and Barbaresco and will contain, in detail, all 247 MeGa – short for menzioni geografiche aggiuntive, or crus in Piemonte that represent unique terroir – 181 in Barolo and 66 in Barbaresco. The Consortium presented this new, official app during the National AIS Convention (Italian Sommelier Association) held in Turin, on the splendid stage of the Carignano Theater.

The new app allows for “the possibility to use geographic names that correspond to townships that have been pinpointed within the two DOCG zones of Barolo and Barbaresco,” explained Aldo Vacca, Vice President of the Consortium and director of Produttori Barbaresco. The first time a menzioni was used was in 1752 by Manzone Giovanni of Bra, who used the name Cannubi. Names of menzioni have been present on the wine labels but, up until 2010 for Barolo and 2007 for Barbaresco, their unique value wasn’t recognized – which permitted the risk that producers used them, incorrectly, to their advantage. At the end of the 1800s, the surveyor Lorenzo Fantini selected several names of local families and places to name parts of land. Since then, the land has been split into smaller and smaller terroirs, which incredibly show remarkable differences between each other.

The most recent cartographer is the journalist Alessandro Masnaghetti, creator of the official maps that the Consortium uses. “Even just a few meters of land makes a difference in the character of the wine. By using the menzioni, we define the wines’ provenance.” This year, the first bottles of MeGa-labeled Barolo wines enter the market. “We’re beginning an extremely important phase,” said Pietro Ratti, President of the Consortium, “We needed a modern and fun instrument to communicate the menzioni. So we developed this app that pinpoints exactly where in the vineyard a particular bottle was produced. Fine wine lovers – especially those abroad – need to know more about where their wines come from. A consumer will actually be able to see which vineyard his wine comes from.”

Carlo Cane from Alba created the app, which will be compatible with both Android and Apple. The English version will also be presented in the USA in tandem with a series of press releases to help the public understand what the MeGas are, and why they’re important. Currently, pdfs of the maps with the MeGa of Barolo and Barbaresco may be downloaded on www.langhevini.it. 

→ Download the Barolo Official Map on GooglePlay here