Winemaker Notes
Pretty aromas of strawberries and dark red fruits followed by licorice, fresh mint and crushed stones. Fresh and bright on the palate with red berries, floral notes, and a gorgeous polished texture.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Mauro Molino 2020 Barolo exhibits a lean and silky character with aromas that build in intensity with time. They include underripe cherry, apricot and evenly dispensed oak that is not intrusive. Dried leaves and licorice give the wine an autumnal vibe, and the tannins remain slightly sweet and powdery.
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James Suckling
Spiced and racy Barolo with ripe red berries, spices, sandalwood and hints of white pepper. Medium-bodied with a dusty texture to its tannins and vivid acidity. Textural and polished, with citrus peel character at the end. Already attractive to drink, but better after two to three years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Refreshing and lively, bursting with the scent of fresh strawberries and an array of enchanting floral notes that contribute to its beauty. Incredibly vibrant and fresh, with a palate that immediately induces salivation. The balance achieved between the sour and tart red fruits and the herbal undertones is remarkable, giving the wine an overall prettiness and elegance with supple tannins and sweet spices on the finish.
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Vinous
Molino’s 2020 Barolo is a very pretty, classy entry-level offering. Macerated red cherry, orange peel, cinnamon, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco inform this aromatic, mid-weight Barolo. All the elements are nicely balanced throughout. Vineyard sources are Annunziata, Berri and Perno. The 2020 is a real charmer.
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Wine Spectator
Macerated cherry, strawberry, rose hip and earth flavors highlight this dense, linear red. Leans toward the tannins on the moderately long finish. Delicate but not fragile. Best from 2027 through 2038. 3,500 cases made, 2,000 cases imported.
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.