Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Though dense and taut, this red has ample cherry, eucalyptus, iron and leafy, underbrush flavors locked up tight. Assertive tannins hold court on the finish for now. Rangy, yet finds a sense of equilibrium in the end. Best from 2022 through 2037.
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James Suckling
Lots of berry and chocolate character with a nutty, caramel undertone. Full-bodied yet soft and silky. Delicious finish already. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Among the recent releases by Fratelli Revello, the 2013 Barolo Conca is a more complete and exhaustive expression. With fruit from La Morra, the wine offers balanced aromatic intensity with a sharp focus on black fruit, spice, cola and licorice. The mouthfeel delivers generous layering and depth.
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Wine Enthusiast
Red berry, cake spice, fragrant iris and a whiff of new leather are just some of the aromas you'll find on this perfumed full-bodied red. The enveloping palate delivers raspberry compote, coconut, licorice and well integrated French oak while fine-grained tannins offer polished support. You'll also detect the warmth of alcohol but the juicy fruit richness keeps it in check. Drink 2021–2031.
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.