Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very floral aromas to this with violets and roses. Raspberry and lemon. Full to medium body, very fine tannins and a fresh and crisp finish. Lovely delicacy and focus. Better in 2019.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Barolo Bricco Ambrogio is particularly elegant and polished. The wine offers a subdued aromatic presentation that builds in incremental intensity as it warms in the glass. Bright cherry and blackberry are followed by floral notes of rose hip and dried lavender. Mineral components of crushed granite and smoke linger delicately at the back. Another important element of this wine is its balanced acidity that will serve well in terms of the wine's overall longevity.
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Wine Enthusiast
Perfumed berry, fragrant blue flower and a hint of toasted hazelnut lead the way. On the taut palate, notes of star anise, white pepper and coffee bean accent a core of juicy red berry. Firm but refined tannins provide the elegant framework.
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Wine Spectator
Bright, fluid and spicy, boasting cherry, raspberry and tobacco flavors. This is less dense structurally than many '12s, with a peppery finish. Should come around soon. Best from 2018 through 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.