Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2020 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is gorgeous. Aromatically captivating and nuanced, the 2020 impresses right out of the gate. All the classic Ginestra signatures are present. Today the tannins are pretty imposing in the positive sense, as they are present, but also impeccably balanced within the wine's frame. This is impressive stuff. The substantial, balsamic-infused Ginestra finish is captivating.
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James Suckling
Notes of ripe cherries and red plums with hints of sandalwood and licorice. Medium-bodied with firm tannins. It’s structured and focused with complexity and depth. Ripe and vivid fruit in the middle with a dry, polished finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Elio Grasso 2020 Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté reveals a leaner, more streamlined mouthfeel compared to past vintages (especially compared to the far more concentrated 2019 vintage). The wine shows pretty brightness with wild berry, underripe cranberry, potting soil and sour cherry. There’s a wild hint of Eastern European dill or crushed mint as well. This edition is slightly more accessible overall with an open-knit approach and granular tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry, raspberry, plum, peony and wild herb flavors are shaded by a hint of toasty oak in this solidly built red. Supple in texture, fluid and balanced, with a juicy finish offset by dusty tannins.
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.