Winemaker Notes
A ale ruby red in color, the 2019 Barolo Garretti offers aromas of ripe red fruits, cinnamon and hydrangea. Fresh and silky, with elegant pomegranate and nutmeg notes on the palate. The finish is complex and generous.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The La Spinetta 2019 Barolo Garretti opens to a crisp, almost tart quality with red fruit, cassis, pomegranate and a hint of red apple. Those bright primary tones cede to spice and earthy mineral or baked clay. The wine is distinguished by a pretty hint of licorice root that cuts a line throughout the entire bouquet. The 2019 vintage shows extra finesse and structure to the palate.
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James Suckling
Aromas of rose petal and hibiscus flower with some blood orange and stem undertones. Medium-bodied with a solid core of fruit and chewy tannins. Medium finish. Needs time to soften and open.
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Vinous
The 2019 Barolo Vigneto Garretti is a wild, exotic wine. The aromatics alone are incredibly alluring. Kirsch, rosewater, hard candy and sweet spice all soar out of the glass. This racy, mid-weight Barolo is a real charmer. Best of all the 2019 will drink well right out of the gate.
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.