2016 Barolo, Part 2 & Late Releases
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
As is our custom, we present our annual Barolo coverage in two installments. This article covers recently bottled 2016 Barolos and a number of other late releases that are in the market. Readers will find everything from benchmark producers to lesser-known growers who made some of their best wines ever.
Twenty years ago I lived in Milano, where I was on a corporate expatriate assignment. I spent virtually all of my free time in the Langhe, visiting wineries and tasting as much as I could. Those early trips led to the creation of Piedmont Report in late 2003/early 2004. As we went to press this week, I could not help thinking how much has changed since then. I often hear from readers who are disappointed by the rapid escalation of prices and dwindling allocations of some of Piedmont’s most sought-after wines. It’s understandable. This phenomenon, which has only existed for the last 10-15 years, is one of the big changes in Piedmont. When I started spending time in the region, scheduling visits was easy. Producers routinely opened their entire range. All but one or two high scoring wines were available to purchase, in quantity, and it was not unusual for growers to give visitors a bottle of wine as a souvenir. A good friend of mine who has been at this longer than I have tells stories of visiting with Giovanni Conterno and leaving with a magnum of Monfortino as a gift! Let’s just say things are different these days.
In looking at the producers featured in this report, as well as those covered earlier in my article 2016 Barolo: Right Place, Right Time, I am once again struck by how many of them either did not exist or have made massive strides in quality since then. Diego Conterno, Trediberri and Benevelli are among those that fit into the first category, while Barale, Poderi e Cantine Oddero and Fratelli Alessandria are part of the latter group. All of these growers make wines that offer superb quality and value. In short, I believe there has never been a more exciting time to explore Piedmont. The numbers bear that out. Once a few last late releases appear next year, I will have reviewed more Barolos in 2016 than in any other previous vintage, and that is before taking into account a few estates I have not gotten to yet and several dozen wines that did not merit inclusion in this report.
Barolo del Comune di….
Readers will be seeing an increasing number of ‘Comune’ Barolo bottlings popping up. These are the Piedmontese equivalent of village wines, so Barolos from a single village. (More on that in a second). Some producers have taken their entry-level Barolo ‘classico’ or ‘normale’ (for lack of a better term) and moved them into Comune designation, while others have introduced a new wine in between their entry-level Barolo and their single vineyard offerings. The Comune Barolos are an important and much needed step in defining the personality of each village, first and foremost, in the mind of the consumer. As with all things Italian, the system is not perfect. At present, regulations allow a 15% of wine from another village to be blended into a Comune Barolo. Obviously this has to move to 100% for the designation to have any real meaning, but these wines are certainly a step in the right direction.
As is our custom, we present our annual Barolo coverage in two installments. This article covers recently bottled 2016 Barolos and a number of other late releases that are in the market. Readers will find everything from benchmark producers to lesser-known growers who made some of their best wines ever.
