Azelia is still something of a Barolo lover's secret. Though the estate is not a high-profile one, proprietor Luigi Scavino is cousin of Enrico Scavino of the renowned Paolo Scavino estate, and shares ownership of the famed Fiasco hill in Castiglione Falletto with him. Luigi, his wife Lorella and son Lorenzo Scavino own and maintain 16 hectares of vines in Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba (including Cru Barolo from Margheria, San Rocco and Voghera Brea) and Montelupo Albese (for their beautiful Dolcetto, which is a story for another day) producing wines with beautiful fruit and aromatic purity. The Barolo is a blend of fruit from 6 different sites with an average vine age of 40 years. The wine is matured in large 25 and 30 hectolitre casks of Austrian and Slovenian oak. If Azelia's Barolos needed to be described in a single word, that word would be 'elegant'. The wines have always been a pure expression of nebbiolo, silky textured and harmonious, never over extracted or excessively oaky. If their intrinsic balance makes them approachable when they are young, it also makes them supremely age-worthy. Azelia is unquestionably one of Langhe's best value producers.