A native New Yorker, Alan Manley arrived in Piedmont with uncommon clarity of purpose, having spent decades travelling to and working within the region before relocating permanently in 2011. His connection to Italian wine runs deep. Prior to the move, he owned and operated Primitivo, a restaurant in Colorado Springs, but it was Barolo that ultimately became the focus. Early experience working with Luciano Sandrone provided both technical grounding and perspective, while an extended eleven-year period working alongside Maria Teresa Mascarello at Bartolo Mascarello proved decisive in shaping his approach. For his first vintages in 2015 and 2016, he worked with modest means, renting a single tank and a botti directly from Mascarello before establishing his own cellar in Monforte d’Alba in 2016, ready in time for the 2017 vintage.
His holdings remain small and focused, including a 0.25-hectare parcel on the border of Vigna Rionda in Serralunga d’Alba, a site that signals intent more than scale. The winemaking follows a traditional line, clearly informed by the philosophy of Bartolo Mascarello, with all Barolo parcels co-fermented to emphasise a complete expression rather than individual components. Fermentations take place in lined cement without temperature control, allowing the process to unfold naturally. The Langhe Nebbiolo is handled more lightly, fermented in stainless steel and pressed off skins immediately after malolactic fermentation to retain freshness and lift. Across both wines, élevage is in neutral, fine-grained French oak botti from the Mittelberger cooperage in Bolzano.
Production is tightly limited at around 12,000 bottles each of Barolo and Langhe Nebbiolo annually. The wines themselves are composed and precise, showing concentration without excess and structure without severity. Tannins are fine and tend toward a sweeter profile, giving shape without hardness, and there is an ease to the wines that makes them approachable while still grounded in the framework of traditional Barolo. They carry a clear sense of place and intent, balancing purity of fruit with savoury detail and measured depth.
We have carefully curated a strong run of back vintages of Manley’s wines over time, offering a rare opportunity to explore their development in bottle. At this scale of production, mature releases are seldom seen outside the cellar, and these parcels provide immediate access to wines beginning to show the layered, savoury complexity that defines traditionally made Barolo with age.
This is a small, deliberate project, shaped by long experience and a clear set of references, with the imprint of Bartolo Mascarello evident not as imitation but as foundation. The wines speak quietly but with confidence, offering a considered interpretation of Barolo that rewards attention. Quantities are limited and unlikely to expand, and for those drawn to traditionally framed Nebbiolo with clarity and restraint, this is a producer worth following closely.