Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color with orange reflections. An intense bouquet, with tertiary notes of rose, leather, tobacco and emerging notes of violet and tar. The palate is ample and embracing, with prevailing impressions of a soft, persistent long finish.
Lecinquevigne is perfect for braised meat , game, mushrooms and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A juicy red with dried strawberry and orange peel, as well as cedar and spice undertones. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, fine tannins that are integrated with a flavorful finish. Juicy with lots of flavor. Approachable now, but better in 2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ripe wild berry, blue flower and forest floor mingle with a balsamic whiff of camphor. Full-bodied and firmly structured, the palate offers ripe black-skinned berry, raspberry compote, licorice and menthol alongside tightly knit, fine-grained tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As its name suggests, this wine draws its fruit from five crus across the appellation. They are Brunate, Liste, Cerequio, Cannubi and Raviole. The 2017 Barolo Lecinquevigne is balanced and bright. If there are leading qualities to assign to the Damilano family wines, they are consistency and accessibility. This medium-term 2017 is linear and less constructed overall, and you do sense some of the ripeness of the vintage, thanks to that sweet spot on the close.
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Wine Spectator
Sweet red cherry and berry flavors are augmented by spice, tar and wild herbs in this lightly chewy red. Firm and finishes on the dry side in the balance, yet with fine length. Best from 2024 through 2038.
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.