Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Barolo Ciabot Mentin shines bright in this tasting of excellent new releases from Domenico Clerico. As with past vintages, this wine is distinguished by the intense inner energy it delivers from deep within and by the unyielding nature of its textural richness. There is muscle power here and determination, and you feel it especially now, in the wine's youth. At the same time, it is blazing to move forward. The wine offers an important sense of longevity that starts with a focused and immediate delivery of dark fruit, spice, tar and smoke. As these aromas continue to emerge from the glass, they become more linear, focused and elongated with time. Barolo Ciabot Mentin offers this magical transformation in this classic vintage.
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James Suckling
Aromas of ripe fruit and earth, with hints of dried fruits, too. Some oxidation. Full and layered with rich fruit and chewy tannins. Still a little austere.
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Wine & Spirits
From a plot in the highest part of Monforte d’Alba’s Ginestra cru, this is dark and spicy, loaded with notes of mint, licorice and cedar. The wine rested in barriques and 50-hectoliter casks for 16 months each, developing layers of sweet tobacco, mushroom and dark chocolate that deepen the fruit tones. Powerful, meaty tannins knit the flavors together harmoniously.
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Wine Spectator
A beefy style, with a core of cherry, sweet oak and spice flavors tempered by aggressive tannins. Remains long and ends with an impression of sweetness. Best from 2021 through 2036.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of cedar, dark berry and moist earth lead the nose. On the full-bodied palate, fine-grained assertive tannins frame raspberry jam, licorice, espresso and black pepper. Drink 2022–2028.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.