Winemaker Notes
This Barolo, made entirely from Nebbiolo from the Arborina cru, is full of feminine expression and nuance. An ethereal bouquet offers aromas of roses, mint, wild berries, milk chocolate, smoke, and sweet tangerine peel. The framework of velvety tannins, characteristic to Nebbiolo from Arborina, is the structure upon which a palette of full fruit and spice emerge. The finish is extensive and elegant.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of dried strawberries, citrus fruit, flower sand sandalwood. Full-bodied and really powerful with fantastic layering of fruit and ripe tannins. Strawberries, spices, mushrooms and dried flowers. Superb finish. This is a great Barolo. Really well done. Try after 2023.
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Wine Spectator
Oak tones of vanilla and toast are nicely integrated with the floral, red berry, tar, iron and tobacco flavors of this red, which is polished and succulent, showing a mix of fruit, spice and mineral notes mingling on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2042.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Renato Corino 2016 Barolo Arborina shows ripeness and succulence with dark fruit, bold cherry, raspberry and wild rose. The tannins are tame, as is characteristic of fruit from La Morra, but the aromatic complexity of the wine keeps you guessing with each swirl of the glass. This is a delicate Barolo for sure, but its subdued personality is perfect for a simple plate of agnolotti stuffed with minced meat. The wine is aged in barrique, with one-third new oak.
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.