Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Intense aromas of forest floors, flowers and rich fruit such as plums verging on prunes. Full-bodied, with a firm and chewy texture. So fresh and amazing. Goes on for minutes. What a wine. Has years to go.
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Wine Spectator
Amazing aromas of ripe fruit, like raspberries in a leather basket. Full-bodied, with ultrasoft and silky tannins and a very, very long finish. Still there after a minute in your mouth. Extremely well-crafted. One of the best Barolos ever from here.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2000 Barolo Cannubi possesses notable density and intensity from start to finish. It shows more fruit and textural richness than the Costa Grimaldi, which is surprising given that the Cannubi often suffers more in warm years. This is another wine that has developed very nicely. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
Elegant and supple upfront, then hits you with masses of rich, soft tannins on the finish that alleviate any initial concerns about ageability. Aromas and flavors run the gamut from earth and tobacco, to cherry and plum, to cedar and vanilla. Drink 2010–2020.
Cellar Selection
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.