Winemaker Notes
Because of its structure and body, it pairs well with meat, game and cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2017 Barolo Rapèt is bright, juicy and absolutely delicious. This fruity Serralunga Barolo offers tons of immediacy in the open-knit style that is typical of parts of this Serralunga vineyard. Silky, impeccably balanced tannins add to the wine's considerable allure. The 2017 is not super complex, but it is racy and dangerously delicious.
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James Suckling
Rather exotic aromas of cherry liqueur, turkish delight and fresh walnuts, turning to very acute, spicy (almost salty) notes on the palate that almost obliterate the fruit flavors for now. Medium-to full-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Give this plenty of time to even out. Best after 2023.
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Wine Spectator
Steeped plum and fig flavors are augmented by savory notes of eucalyptus, juniper, soy and tar in this dense, meaty red. Once this sheds its ironclad tannins, the fruit should come to the fore. Fine, fresh and long finish Best from 2025 through 2045. 150 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Ca' Rome' 2017 Barolo Rapet is darkly concentrated and rich with black fruit, dried plum and dried blackberry. As you might expect of this hot vintage, the wine is robust and powerful, with a generous bouquet that also embraces spice, dark tar and campfire ash. This vintage shows broad and horizontal characteristics and a little less depth as a result. The Rapet vineyard is located in Serralunga d'Alba although it is not an official MGA designation. Note that all of the wines in this flight from Ca' Rome' officially clock in at a mighty alcohol content up to 15.5%.
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.