2012 Barolo: Grace Under Pressure

Two thousand twelve is one of the most intriguing recent
vintages in Barolo. The 2012s span a wide range of styles, from Barolos that
are lifted and gracious to those that offer quite a bit of richness. Quality is
uneven across the board, so readers will have to be selective in order to enjoy
the best the vintage has to offer.

The 2012 Growing
Season

Mother Nature gave growers plenty to deal with in 2012. The
year started off with a brutally cold, harsh winter accompanied by considerable
rain and snow. Uneven temperatures persisted throughout the spring. Rain and
cool weather arrived in April, along with a dusting of snow, which is highly
unusual at that time of year. Temperatures were up and down again throughout
May. Rain and poor weather delayed flowering and resulted in an irregular fruit
set, with unevenly formed, loose clusters and lower potential yields. Conditions
turned quite a bit warmer and drier through June and July, with pronounced elevated
temperatures. The first&nbsp;of two hailstorms hit Barolo and La Morra in July. A second touch
of hail arrived in early August, but the damage from both storms appears to
have been minimal where growers worked diligently in the field and then at
harvest to discard damaged fruit. Rain towards the end of the month and into
early September caused issues for earlier-ripening varieties, such as Moscato
and Dolcetto, but Nebbiolo was spared the worst. Most growers picked their
Nebbiolo in early October.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1457638021478-Fall+colors+in+Castiglione+Falletto+%28Cover%29.jpg"> Fall colors in Castiglione Falletto

The 2012 Barolos –
What to Expect

Two thousand twelve is a vintage of mid-weight Barolos that
reflect the freshness and overall structure of a cooler year. In broad terms,
the 2012s have bright acidities, forward fruit and are also lower in alcohol
than the 2011s, a combination that gives the wines considerable early appeal. Given
the ups and downs of the growing season, it won’t come as much of a surprise that
the 2012 Barolos are also highly variable, not just in terms of overall
quality, but also in style. This is the main reason why 2012 is virtually
impossible to describe in just a few words or sentences.

Some 2012s are light, lifted and also a touch diluted, while
others are deep and richly textured. Many wines feel as though they aren’t
fully formed, which may be the result of a slightly compact growing season
caused by the delayed flowering.

Compared to the 2010s and 2011s, where the wines bear the
signatures of their respective vintages, the 2012s are much more heterogeneous.
With a few notable exceptions, 2012 is not a year of finely etched,
site-specific Barolos, even if many of the wines are quite appealing when
viewed through a slightly less analytical lens. At the same time, though, the
best 2012s are superb and well worth seeking out. The biggest challenge the
2012 Barolos face in being appreciated is the bevy of equally compelling wines
from surrounding vintages.

As it turns out, at every estate I visited, I also tasted the
2005s for a forthcoming retrospective. The similarities between the two
vintages are impossible to miss. Most 2012s are a touch slender and mid-weight
in structure, like the 2005s, but they also have a lovely sense of radiance and
forward suppleness to their fruit. Given how well the 2005s are showing at age
ten, I am optimistic about the 2012s. In many cases, the 2012s are built around mid-weight structures that are&nbsp;reminiscent of
both the 2005s and 2008s, and a sense of early approachability that was such a signature of the 1998s when they were first released.&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1457638030999-The+cellar+at+Giacomo+Conterno.jpg">

The cellars at Giacomo
Conterno, Monforte d’Alba

2012 Buying Strategy:
Focus and Depth

There are some vintages Barolo lovers really should buy in
great breadth. Two thousand ten is one of those years. There are just so many
truly epic wines to consider. General market frenzy and narrow availability of
the most desired 2010s makes it nearly impossible for most consumers to own
meaningful quantities of any single wine. Two thousand twelve is not that
vintage. Instead, 2012 is a year to be selective, but to go deep on favorite
producers and wines. Those bottles will give pleasure for many years and
decades to come. From what I can see, the 2011s have still not sold through to
the final consumer, so there should be ample opportunity to buy the 2012s over
the next year. In many ways, the current streak of vintages in Piedmont is not
unlike what we saw in the mid to late 1990s. During that time, 1996 and 1997
were highly coveted, then attention turned to 2000 and 2001, partly because of
the vintages themselves and partly in response to what was happening in the
world. Since 2004, and with the possible exception of 2009, Barolo has seen a
string of above average to truly epic vintages. Even with the recent explosion
of interest in Piedmont wines, there is only so much high-quality Barolo the
market can absorb. Lastly, 2013 looms on the horizon. All of that suggests 2012
will be a consumer-friendly vintage in terms of both pricing and availability.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1457638004823-This+dirt+road+separates+Brunate+from+Cerequio.jpg"> This dirt path is the border between Brunate (to the left) and Cerequio (to the right)

2013 – Timing is
Everything

The two thousand thirteen growing season will be remembered
for a few key episodes that mark the wines to a significant degree. One of
these was an unusually severe outbreak of peronospera in the spring.
Conventional wisdom holds that the risk of an outbreak is low in the early
spring, even though old timers have long believed that wet, humid conditions,
such as those of 2013, are dangerous. Because the fields were damp, getting in
with tractors was impossible. Growers had to spray by hand, a laborious,
painstaking task. Those who treated their vines saved their crop, but in some
cases those who did not took big losses. Warm weather in the summer gave way to
a classic Piedmontese fall with cooling nights, the ideal conditions for
setting up the late harvests that are so well suited to Nebbiolo. The 2013
Barolos I have tasted from cask are aromatically compelling, rich and
structured; in other words super-classic. At their best, the 2013s come across
as slightly richer versions of the 2010s.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1457638055364-Elvio+Cogno%27s+Cascina+Nuova%2C+Novello.jpg"> 

Elvio Cogno’s Cascina
Nuova, Novello

2014 – Stay Tuned…

Two thousand fourteen is shaping up to be one of the most
interesting vintages in recent memory. I spent an entire month in Piedmont that
summer. At our rental house, which was closer to Barbaresco than Barolo, the
anti-hail cannons seemed to go off regularly around 4-5pm virtually every day.
But while conditions were drier in Barbaresco, the weather was much more
punishing in Barolo, where many vineyards were hit by hail as many as three
times. A near-perfect Indian summer arrived just in time to save the Nebbiolo
harvest, but by then much of the Dolcetto and Barbera crops had been
irreparably compromised. It’s a whole different story for the Nebbiolos. So
far I have tasted virtually all of the reference-point wines from barrel. At the top, the best 2014s are thrilling. Acidities are high and the wines
pulse with energy. Sadly, yields are down 30-50%. Given the weather conditions,
I expect to see a wide range of quality from top to bottom once I taste through
the entire vintage, as not all growers had the means to make the severe
selection of fruit in the field and later in the winery that was essential to
survival. There is still a long way to go, but today the best 2014s are
mesmerizing, uber-classic wines that make me wonder if this is what the Barolos of the 1960s and 1970s tasted like when they were young.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1457638072427-Cascina+Gavarini%2C+Monforte+d%27Alba.jpg"> 

Elio Grasso’s Gavarini
vineyard, Monforte d’Alba

The wines in this article were tasted during winery visits
in August and November 2015 followed up tastings in my office in January and
February of 2016. As has been my custom now for many years, the spring Barolo
article focuses on wines that were bottled last summer. A follow up article,
scheduled for this fall, will cover the late-bottled 2012s. 

You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/affordable-piedmont-dolcetto-barbera-and-langhe-nebbiolo-dec-2015">Affordable Piedmont – Dolcetto, Barbera and Langhe Nebbiolo</a>, Antonio Galloni, December 2015 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/2011-barolo-part-2-late-releases-dec-2015">2011 Barolo, Part 2 - Late Releases</a>, Antonio Galloni, December 2015 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/2012-2013-barbaresco-a-study-in-contrasts-dec-2015">2012 &amp; 2013 Barbaresco – A Study in Contrasts</a>, Antonio Galloni, December 2015 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/exploring-roero-may-2015">Exploring Roero</a>, Antonio Galloni, May 2015 -- Antonio Galloni

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