Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of clove, nutmeg and berry character in this young Barolo. Full and juicy with plenty of fruit and velvety tannins. Extremely long and intense.
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Wine Spectator
This is fruity, with a smooth texture framing the cherry, raspberry and spice flavors. Grace notes of licorice and mineral peer out from the finish as this winds down gracefully on the palate. Best from 2019 through 2033.
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Wine Enthusiast
This opens with earthy—almost funky—aromas of game, truffle, leather, a hint of overripe dark-skinned fruit and a balsamic note. The palate offers black cherry, crushed raspberry, cinnamon and chopped herb alongside ripe tannins. An anise note closes the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Barolo sees fruit sourced from various spots around the Barolo township. This is a classic expression with a tight tannic structure and good tension in terms of mouthfeel. This was a hot vintage, with concentrated heat at the height of the summer. This forced a slightly shorter growing season and the bouquet is consequently less nuanced and complex next to the slightly cooler years. Yet the results achieved here are graceful and fine. This a good alternative for near and medium-term drinking.
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.