Barolo
Barolo DOCG for sale on Vinoly: Giacomo Conterno, Giuseppe Rinaldi, Vietti, Roberto Voerzio, Aldo Conterno, Roagna. Vintages from 2004 to 2019, Langhe crus such as Cannubi, Monfortino, Brunate and Lazzarito, in bottle and magnum. The king of Piedmont wines, 100% Nebbiolo, with at least 38 months of ageing (62 for Riserva).
What Barolo is
Barolo is a DOCG red wine of the Langhe, in the province of Cuneo, made only from Nebbiolo in eleven communes: Barolo, La Morra, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Grinzane Cavour, Verduno, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco and Roddi. Rules require at least 38 months of ageing from harvest, 18 in wood; Riserva reaches 62. Minimum alcohol 13%, in practice 14-15.
What it tastes like
Garnet colour, never opaque. Scents of rose, violet, cherry, tar, liquorice, with age leather and truffle. On the palate dense tannin and high acidity: a wine that seems severe when young and relaxes with the years. It is not a soft wine and does not want to be.
Vineyard designations (the crus)
Since 2010 labels may name the vineyard: Cannubi, Brunate, Cerequio, Rocche dell'Annunziata, Bussia, Ginestra, Lazzarito, Vigna Rionda, Monprivato, Francia (the cru of Monfortino). Two great soil families: the Sant'Agata marls (Barolo, La Morra) give softer, more perfumed wines; the Lequio formation (Serralunga, Monforte) more austere, longer-lived ones.
The wineries on Vinoly
Giacomo Conterno with Monfortino, Giuseppe Rinaldi, Vietti, Roberto Voerzio, Poderi Aldo Conterno, Roagna: the two souls of Barolo, the traditional one of long macerations and large casks, and the one that introduced the barrique and low yields in the nineties. Vintages from 2004 to 2019, magnums included.
How long Barolo must age
By law 38 months. In the cellar it shows best between ten and twenty-five years from harvest; great vintages (2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016) go beyond thirty. A young bottle can be drunk, but needs an hour in the decanter and gives up part of what it would offer later.
The vintages in the catalogue
2004 and 2006 classic and long-lived; 2007 and 2009 warm, ready; 2010 and 2013 among the best of the century; 2012 and 2015 balanced, already good; 2016 outstanding, to wait for; 2019 young, for the cellar.
How to serve it and with what
17-18 °C, wide glass. Decant an hour if young; if over twenty years old, stand the bottle up for a day and decant gently. Pairings: beef braised in Barolo, game, lamb, tajarin with Alba white truffle, mushroom risotto, aged Castelmagno and Parmigiano.
Barolo and Barbaresco
Same grape, two characters. Barbaresco, further east, matures sooner and has finer tannins; Barolo is more powerful, austere and long-lived. Nebbiolo lovers often keep both in the cellar.