# Cappello Sommerso: Why Barolo Spends Weeks Under Its Own Skins

_As this year's Nebbiolo ferments, a look at the submerged cap, the slow Langhe method that keeps new wine soaking for weeks._

> Il Vino Bello, 2026-10-05. Il Vino Bello editorial (https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/cappello-sommerso-why-barolo-spends-weeks-under-its-own-skins).

The Barolo harvest began, symbolically, on 10 September this year, as WineNews reported the next day. Picking is the visible part. The part that shapes the wine happens out of sight, in concrete, steel and wooden vats, where new Nebbiolo can sit on its skins for three, five, even eight weeks under what Piemonte producers call the *cappello sommerso*, the submerged cap.

## What a submerged cap is

When red grapes ferment, the skins rise and form a thick layer on top of the liquid: the cap. In the first days many cellars pump the fermenting wine back over it. [Brezza](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/brezza-giacomo-e-figli) describes this for its [Cannubi](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/brezza-giacomo-e-figli-cannubi): alcoholic fermentation of about 7 to 8 days, never above 26°C, followed by a further 10 to 15 days "a cappello sommerso".

Submerging the cap means holding the skins below the surface, so the wine keeps soaking in them without being worked. Depending on the cellar and the wine, that contact lasts days or weeks.

## The old way, with poplar boards

The enologist Lorenzo Tablino describes how it used to be done in the Barolo zone. Destemmed Nebbiolo went into the vat, the fermentation started, and once the cap was firm, "generally after 5 to 6 days", it was wedged down with boards of poplar wood (our translation). The must was then left "for a few months", which he calls a maceration between wine and skins, prolonged but static. Around December or later the boards came out and the wine was drawn off.

He calls long maceration a well established tradition in the Barolo zone and quotes the growers' own phrase: "we kept the Nebbiolo staved down until Christmas and beyond". His reason for it is practical. For wines meant to keep, he writes, a short maceration soon shows its limits, starting with colour that is not stable.

In the technical notes estates publish today, the months have become weeks, but the idea is the same. [Casa E. di Mirafiore](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/casa-e-di-mirafiore), for its [Barolo Riserva](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/casa-e-di-mirafiore-barolo-riserva), gives 12 to 15 days of fermentation and then a further 30 to 40 days on the skins with a submerged cap, to make the most of the polyphenols.

## How long, cellar by cellar

The numbers vary widely, even within one estate. A few examples from producers on the site:

- **[Giacomo Borgogno & Figli](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/giacomo-borgogno-figli)**, Barolo village. The estate's [Barolo](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/giacomo-borgogno-figli-barolo) ferments in large concrete tanks at 22 to 28°C for about 15 days, then has 20 days of submerged-cap maceration in concrete, during which the malolactic fermentation also takes place. It then ages for more than 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels. For the single-vineyard [Barolo Liste](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/giacomo-borgogno-figli-barolo-liste) the estate gives 40 to 60 days under the cap.
- **[Azelia](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/azelia)**, Castiglione Falletto. Indigenous yeasts and about 20 to 25 days with a submerged cap at 31°C for the [Barolo](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/azelia-barolo); about 35 to 40 days for the [Bricco Voghera Riserva](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/azelia-bricco-voghera-riserva), which then spends five years in large casks and five in bottle.
- **[Brangero](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/brangero)**. About 40 days of submerged-cap maceration after fermentation for its [Monvigliero](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/brangero-monvigliero), then about 30 months in second-use tonneaux.
- **[Ca' Viola](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/ca-viola)**. The [Sottocastello di Novello](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/ca-viola-sottocastello-di-novello) ferments in unglazed concrete with a share of whole grapes, then has 15 to 30 days under the cap.
- **[Abbona](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/abbona)**. For the [Ravera](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/abbona-ravera), daily pump-overs during the spontaneous fermentation, then a final maceration with the cap submerged, during which the malolactic fermentation runs its course on its own.

It is not only Barolo. In the Roero, [Antica Cascina dei Conti di Roero](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/antica-cascina-dei-conti-di-roero) gives its [Vigna Sant'Anna](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/antica-cascina-dei-conti-di-roero-vigna-sant-anna) Roero Riserva a 40-day maceration with a submerged cap, then 24 months in a 30-hectolitre cask, bottled unfiltered. In Barbaresco, [Cascina delle Rose](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/cascina-delle-rose) describes about 30 to 35 days for its [Rio Sordo](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/cascina-delle-rose-rio-sordo), followed by large, untoasted oak.

## The other end of the scale

For contrast, look at a Dolcetto. [Ca' Brusà](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/ca-brusa) uses the same submerged-cap method but macerates its Dolcetto d'Alba [Vai](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/ca-brusa-vai) for just 4 to 5 days, then keeps it in stainless steel for 5 to 6 months. Its Langhe Nebbiolo [Briccolino](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/ca-brusa-briccolino) ferments for 8 days and spends 4 months in small oak. The estate's Barolo [Vigna d'Vai](https://ilvinobello.com/wines/ca-brusa-vigna-d-vai) gets 20 to 25 days.

Within one cellar, then, the shortest maceration goes to the wine that sees only a few months of steel, and the longest to the one that spends more than two years in wood and another in bottle before release.

## What to look out for

If you visit the Langhe this autumn, some of the vats you walk past may well hold this year's Nebbiolo, still sitting quietly under its cap. The wine inside will not reach a shop for years: Azelia's Riserva, for one, spends about a decade in cask and bottle.

In the meantime, the producers' technical sheets are worth a look before you buy. Words like *cappello sommerso*, "submerged cap" or "long maceration", and the number of days next to them, tell you a good deal about how a bottle was made.

## Sources

- https://winenews.it/it/anche-a-barolo-la-raccolta-e-anticipata-e-ieri-sono-partite-le-operazioni-di-vendemmia_601515/ (11 Sep 2026)
- http://tablino.it/43/tecniche-particolari/
- https://www.borgogno.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Barolo-DOCG.pdf
- https://www.brezza.it/vini/barolo-docg-cannubi/
- https://www.azelia.it/vino/barolo-docg/
- https://www.azelia.it/vino/barolo-riserva-docg-bricco-voghera/