Winemaker Notes
Ruby red with orange reflections. Bouquet is intense with notesof ripe currants and raspberries accented by hints of truffle andviolet. Flavor is elegant and balanced with good body; persistent sweet tannins.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Strong notes of fresh herbs, leaves and red flowers with bright strawberries and wild raspberries. The palate has a smoothly succulent and juicy feel with a bright, brisk and assertive core of juicy red-fruit flavor. Drink or hold.
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Wine & Spirits
Blended from three Monforte d’Alba crus (Le Coste, Ravera and Bussia), this is a bold, spicy Barolo. Notes of tobacco, tomato leaf and green peppercorn weave through the wine’s ripe black-cherry flavor, while grippy tannins and graphite notes give the wine a firm, vertical structure. Best Buy
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The fruit for the San Giuseppe line from Pecchenino comes exclusively from the vineyards of Le Coste, in the village of Barolo. The 2015 Barolo San Giuseppe opens to a generous and accessible style with solid varietal purity. This cru shows soft contours at the edges that work toward the general accessibility of the wine but don't take away from the sharpness and focus of the bouquet. Pair it with the famous "plin" ravioli of Piedmont, filled with beef or pork.
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Wine Spectator
This red strikes a nice balance between a core of strawberry and cherry fruit and leafy, eucalyptus and medicinal herb flavors. Taut and vibrant, with a lingering conclusion of cherry, tar and iron elements. Best from 2023 through 2042.
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Wine Enthusiast
This has an initially shy nose that eventually reveals rose, toasted hazelnut, new leather, camphor and a hint of tobacco. The palate is youthfully assertive, offering dried cherry, blood orange, espresso and a hint of rusty iron set against tight, grainy tannins that leave a rather dusty, drying finish
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.