Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red with orange highlights. An intense rose bouquet with scents of licorice and spice. Full bodied, austere, yet elegant. A pleasant “goudron” becomes noticeably apparent after 7-8 years of aging.
Rich, dry and deep in flavor, Barolo is an excellent accompaniment to red meats and spicy cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This edition of 8,000 bottles is part of the estate's late-release program that lets us dig back into the Marchesi di Barolo historic cellars. From a hot summer that saw ruthless, dry heat and strong winds from Africa carrying the red sands of the Maghreb, the 2012 Barolo Riserva has evolved into a very nice wine indeed, with licorice, dried currant, dried mint and iron ore. This is a terrific step back in time. It ends a bit heavy, but it has aged quite gracefully, so enjoy it now.
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Wine Spectator
Maturing nicely, this red's plum, cherry, eucalyptus and iron aromas and flavors are coming to the fore. There are still dense, dusty tannins, yet even these have mellowed, making for a more harmonious experience. Excellent length. Drink now through 2040. 583 cases made, 75 cases imported.
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James Suckling
A tight and focused red with aromas and flavors of strawberries, hazelnuts and almonds. Medium body, integrated tannins and a fresh finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This opens with aromas of black-skinned berry, eucalyptus and a whiff of cedar. The savory, balanced palate offers dried black cherry, clove and tobacco alongside fine-grained tannins and firm acidity. Drink 2021–2030.
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.