Winemaker Notes
This lovely wine has a fascinating and intriguing bouquet, with hints of dark berries and eucalyptus. Persistent and full-bodied on the palate with a citrus aftertaste.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Barolo Gallinotto is fully loaded with ripe fruit without going too far. There is a core of red fruits framed by pie crust and delicate baking spices. The wine picks up speed in terms of mouthfeel, with energy and intense berry flavors, while maintaining harmony. The tannins are integrated and accessible. The wine is generally balanced from all points of view. It ages in both barrique and larger wood barrels.
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Vinous
The 2020 Barolo Gallinotto, from vines in Berri, makes a strong first impression. A burst of dark, macerated cherry, spice, crushed leaves, new leather, tobacco, orange peel and mint races out of the glass. More than anything else, the Gallinotto impresses with its translucent energy, depth and beguiling complexity. Aging is 60% cask and 40% used French oak barrique. This is beautifully done.
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James Suckling
Notes of red cherries, dried blood oranges, rose hips and hints of licorice. It is juicier and supple on the palate, with bright red fruit dominating. Medium-bodied with polished tannins and a sleek aftertaste. Shows firmness at the end. It is already attractive, but will be best to drink after three to four years.
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Wine Spectator
This red falls more into the balsamic camp, offering eucalyptus, juniper, Scotch broom and wild rosemary aromas and flavors. Raspberry and strawberry fruit adds complexity, while this ends with a firm, chalky feel. Best from 2028 through 2042. 765 cases made, 280 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.