2022 Barolo:
Half-Full or Half-Empty?

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JANUARY 20, 2026

Two thousand twenty-two is one of the most complicated
vintages I have seen in the more than 25 years I have visited Piedmont on a
regular basis. The 2022 Barolos are frustratingly erratic, wildly inconsistent
wines, and yet some growers found a way to make the most out of the hand they
were dealt by Mother Nature. It’s a vintage to approach with caution. There are
some real gems in 2022, but they are very much the exceptions. This report
focuses on the 2022 Barolos, but I have also included notes on some 2021 and
2020 late-release Barolos, plus reviews for entry-level wines from top estates,
wines that form the backbone of a daily appreciation of what Piedmont has to
offer.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931527979-Brovia_Vinous.jpg">Elena Brovia and Alex Sánchez turned out some of the most
successful Barolos of the vintage at Brovia.

In a way, 2022 is a stark reminder that not all vintages can
be great, or even good. This is something that is easy to forget in a world
where generally benign weather and vastly improved technology are playing a
profound role in improving quality. It was not that long ago that an average
decade might include two or three truly great years. In recent times, we have
seen decades with six or seven very strong vintages and very few that might be
considered poor. The preceding ten-year span in Barolo includes six strong to
exceptional years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015 and 2013. I have long admired
the best 2014s from the very beginning. Two thousand-seventeen has some good
things to offer, while 2018 is mixed. That’s a very strong collection of
vintages—certainly better than in any similar period during the 1960s, 1970s,
1980s, 1990s and maybe even 2000s. It’s only normal that a highly challenging
year might eventually rear its head. Two thousand twenty-two is that vintage. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931547359-Landscape+Elio+Grasso_Vinous.jpg">The hillsides of Monforte d’Alba on a late fall day, as
seen from the terrace at Elio Grasso.

The 2022 Barolos are generally light-bodied wines that show
elements of dilution. Site character, which I believe to be the single most
essential attribute for vineyard-designated wines, is blurred. Only a few 2022s
capture the visceral excitement Nebbiolo is capable of, and even those wines
don’t reach the levels of top wines in truly great, important vintages. This is
the glass-half-empty view. Although the 2022s are very much on the lighter
side, most wines have good balance and not a lot of awkward edges. This
suggests the best growers were able to respond to the challenges of the growing
season in the vineyards and in the cellar. Technology, such as advanced sorting
machines, can’t replace what Mother Nature is not willing to provide, but it
can remove damaged fruit that would have penalized wines in the past. Many 2022
Barolos are very quiet, as if someone turned down the volume in a sound system
to a whisper. The wines are recognizable, just very small in scale. There are a
few wines that are especially of note, almost miracle wines sprinkled
throughout one of the most challenging vintages in recent memory. This is the glass-half-full
view.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931572743-Einaudi_Vinous.jpg">Proprietor Matteo Sardagna and his right-hand man, Zvone Jurkovic, presented a stellar set of 2022 Barolos at Einaudi. Jurkovic has been at Einaudi since 1999. He started driving a tractor and doing work in the vineyards, then worked his way up to Assistant Winemaker.

The 2022 Growing Season

The 2022 growing season got off to an early start because of
a total lack of rain and snow the preceding winter for a period that lasted
almost four months. Heat and a lack of water would prove to be some of the main
themes of the year. Hail in June was an issue in some spots. Vajra reported
losses of 20-40% in their Barolo vineyards.

Drought persisted throughout the summer. “We had just 300 millimeters
[mm] of rain from April to October. It was the driest year in 60-70 years,”
Alberto Cordero di Montezemolo explained. “In 2021, we had 360 mm of rain in
the same period. That, too, was a big drop after the preceding years, where
rainfall during the same period was 560-590 mm, but we did not notice, because
2021 benefited from hydric reserves from the previous winter. In 2022, we did
not have the reserves.”

After early flowering in May, many vines went into stress.
Young vines that have not developed deep root systems were especially
vulnerable. Stunted canopies were visible everywhere. Most vineyards are set up
with three levels of trellising wires that run perpendicular to the ground. As
canopies grow, they are tied to those wines. In a typical year, canopies reach
the third level. In 2022, many vineyards struggled to reach the second wire.
Those sites were also marked by small leaves that had started to change color
prematurely and small, very loose clusters, all signs of severe heat stress.
Understanding when and how to green harvest was critical. “We dropped crop
where we could to lighten the load for the vines,” Chiara Boschis explained. "By
June and July, the plants were already heat stressed. Once that happens, photosynthesis
stops and the vines go into survival mode," Luca Sandrone recounted.
"We delayed green harvesting as late as we could to avoid
over-concentration on the vine."<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931615409-Vineyards+Comparison_Vinous.jpg">A tale of two plots in the same vineyard; older vines (left) withstood excessive heat and drought far better than younger vines (right).

Other vineyards fared better. Older vines, sites with
moisture-retentive soils, cooler exposures and sites at elevation were all
favored. De-leafing is largely a practice of the past in Piedmont. Instead,
growers worked to keep grapes as shaded as possible. Some sites benefited from
netting that was first adopted in Piedmont to protect vineyards from hail.
Today, netting has the additional benefit of working double duty as shadecloth.
Not all producers are convinced on shadecloth. Some believe netting restricts
airflow and increases humidity within vines. Nevertheless, netting was clearly
helpful in some cases. It’s an interesting discussion. Shadecloth is widely
used in some regions, such as Napa Valley, but not allowed in others, such as
the classic appellations in France.

Harvest took place in a relatively condensed period from
late September to early October for most estates. “It was our second-earliest
harvest. Only 1989 finished earlier,” explained Fabio Fantino at
Conterno-Fantino. Most growers reported grapes with thin skins. Winemakers
favored low temperatures in fermentation and shorter vatting times to avoid
extracting bitter tannins. Approaches were quite varied from estate to estate.
Maria Teresa Mascarello, who usually does submerged cap maceration in the best
years, did not give her wines extended time on the skins, citing thin skins and
fragile balance. Others, like Vittore Alessandria at Fratelli Alessandria,
reported healthy grapes and vinified their wines as they do in most years.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931998751-IMG_6930.jpg">Maria Teresa Mascarello in front of her cement vats
during the 2025 harvest.

A Critical Juncture…

As producers began tasting through their 2022s, some formed
a view that their lots were more similar than they had hoped and that their
single-vineyard wines were not distinctive enough to be bottled on their own.
“We sat down as a family to taste the wines,” Fabio Alessandria told me at G.B.
Burlotto. “The 2022 Barolos were good, but we just did not see the differences
in the sites that we usually do, so we chose to make a single Barolo.” Alberto
Cordero di Montezemolo echoed that sentiment. Other estates bottled some but
not all of their vineyard-designates. These include Vietti, where the team led
by Winemaker Eugenio Palumbo did not bottle the Brunate, Cerequio or Villero.
At the other end of the spectrum, several growers turned out superb wines
across their entire ranges. These include Elio Altare, Giacomo Conterno,
Brovia, Massolino and Einaudi, who made some of their finest wines in recent
memory.

Some produces reported lower alcohols than normal, but in
other cases, alcohols are above 15%. Nebbiolo is a grape that can handle higher
alcohol better than others. Some Barolos have been in the 14.5% range since the
1970s. In other words, intense heat and climate change have not impacted these
wines to the degree seen in other regions such as Bordeaux or Burgundy, where
wines can be quite a bit higher in alcohol than they once were. Still, finding
the balance between achieving a degree of phenolic ripeness while keeping
alcohols in check was a significant challenge.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931671196-Castiglione_Vinous.jpg">Castiglione Falletto on a late fall day.

How to Buy the 2022s

In many years, conventional wisdom would be “buy the
producer and not the vintage.” That’s generally good advice, advice I have
offered many times over the last 20+ years. But it’s not enough in this case.
The 2022 Barolos can be quite variable, even within specific producers’
portfolios, which suggests the challenges of the growing season were
formidable, even for the most diligent growers. It’s truly a wine-by-wine
proposition in 2022.

The State of the Market

It’s no secret that the wine world is experiencing a
correction. Quite simply, there is too much good wine in the market given
current consumption patterns. How that develops in the coming years is anyone’s
guess. I am more optimistic than most for the long term. Even so, it is
impossible to ignore current events. Although stock markets are at record
highs, the world is in a more fragile state than at any point I can remember in
my adult life. Geopolitical events, along with tariffs, weigh heavily on the consciousness
of both consumers and trade participants who must consider when and how to make
significant purchasing decisions.

Having the benefit of surveying the world of wine, my view
is that Italian producers in general are better off than those from other
countries. Whereas making good to great wine was once enough, today those
skills have become more common. Increasingly, the harder task is selling. This
is not news to Italian producers, who are used to traveling the world over to
promote their wines. The Italians have never been able to lean on the
centuries-old pedigree of Bordeaux, the microscopic productions of Burgundy or
the ability of wineries in the United States to sell directly to the end
consumer. Instead, they have had to hustle to sell their wines. That skill is
especially valuable today. Whereas producers from many other regions are being
forced to adapt, producers from Italy have been putting in the miles for years
and decades. So, I am reasonably optimistic for the fate of these wines in the
market, even though 2022 is going to be a very hard sell.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931688340-Ca+di+Press_Vinous.jpg">Family patriarch Bruno Pressenda, flanked by daughters
Cristina and Alice, at Ca’ di Press.

Under the Microscope: What Makes a Great Barolo Vintage?

Over the last several years, I have shared my model of what
makes a great Barolo vintage. It is the sum of everything I have learned from
many people, organized in a way that pulls all that information together.
Compared to Bordeaux, Piedmont has yet to establish a formal framework for
evaluating vintages. Many people have views, but I have never seen them
codified. What follows is my set of objective criteria necessary for a Barolo
(or Barbaresco) vintage to be considered truly great. This framework is inspired
by the late Denis Dubourdieu and the model he developed for assessing Bordeaux
vintages. To that, I add my 25-plus years of visiting Piedmont and all the data
I have collected in speaking with winemakers, agronomists and other
professionals over that time, plus drinking more than my fair share of the
wines. As with Dubourdieu’s model, this framework addresses the growing season
and does not examine the actual wines.

Naturally, this model is created in the present day. It
won’t apply as well to vintages from previous eras, especially vintages from
the 1950s-1970s. At that time, warm weather was considered ideal because grapes
struggled to ripen. The warmest vineyards, those that faced due south—the
famous sorís—were the most coveted. Today, in our climate-change-challenged
world, you would be hard-pressed to find a producer who believes that
south-facing vineyards are the most ideal.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931708810-Barolo+Group+Photo_Vinous.jpg">Emerging growers to watch. From left to right:&nbsp;Alessandro, Daniela and Mauro
Veglio (Mauro Veglio); Erik Revello (Carlo Revello &amp; Figli); Vittoria and
Marta Alessandria (Gianfranco Alessandria).

A Deep Dive on 2022

1.&nbsp;A Long Growing Season – A long
growing season, defined as the period from budbreak to harvest, is essential
for achieving full physiological ripening of the fruit, skins and seeds. Since
Nebbiolo is a highly tannic grape, less than full physiological ripeness is
heavily penalizing. The 2022 growing season was defined by a short
vegetative cycle. The first condition was not met.

2.&nbsp;Diurnal Shifts – The final phase of
ripening must be accompanied by diurnal shifts, which are the swings in
temperature from warm days to cool nights. Diurnal shifts create aromatic
complexity, full flavor development and color. In 2022, evening temperatures
moderated a bit, but not enough to make a material difference.&nbsp;Thus,
the second condition was not met.

3.&nbsp;The Absence of Shock Weather Events –
Frost and hail can severely and irreparably damage the crop. Similarly, periods
of uninterrupted elevated heat can block maturation. In 2022, the season was
punctuated by several shock events, from Spring frost to intense heat and a
severe lack of water during summer and then through to harvest. Therefore, the
third condition was not met.

4.&nbsp;Stable Weather During the Last Month –
The last month of the growing season makes the quality of the vintage. Stable
weather without prolonged rain episodes is essential for harvesting a healthy
crop. In 2022, the final stages of ripening were accompanied by continued
heat and drought, which caused further dehydration on the vine. The fourth
condition was not met.

5.&nbsp;A Late Harvest – Harvest must
take place in October (possibly late September in some areas), with the final
phase of ripening occurring during the shorter days of late September and
October, as opposed to the longer, hotter days of August. Although harvest
did stretch into October, most estates picked in a condensed time frame under
far less than ideal conditions. The fifth condition was not met.

In conclusion, 2022 does not meet any of the conditions
required for a good-to-great harvest. In some vintages, some parameters can
come close to meeting the necessary requirements in the model but fall a bit
short. That’s not the case in 2022.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1768931771539-Altare_Vinous.jpg">Proprietor Silvia Altare and Assistant Winemaker Tes Cyo.
The Altare wines have long been beacons of quality from top to bottom.

Exploring Dolcetto, Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo, Freisa and
Piedmont’s Other Daily Drinkers

As much as Barolo (and Barbaresco) remains the most
important wine in the Langhe, Piedmont’s entry-level wines are just as
deserving of attention. These are the wines I often look for when I go to
restaurants. Top estates put just as much care and attention into these wines,
making them ideal bottles for consumers who may be new to Piedmont, or who are
simply looking for delicious and affordable wines.

I tasted all the wines in this report during estate visits
in November and December 2025, with follow-up tastings in our New York City
offices. I tasted many wines more than once. As
always, it is impossible to taste everything in one go. Readers can expect to
see additional reviews shortly. I apologize in advance for the lack of reviews
on Trediberri. I would like to say the dog ate my homework, but in reality, the
reviews were lost to a computer glitch that thankfully only affected the wines
from this visit. I will retaste these wines very soon.© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2021-barolo-part-two-restless-energy-sep-2025">2021 Barolo Part Two: Restless Energy</a>, Antonio Galloni, September 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2021-barolo-changing-times-changing-wines-jan-2025">2021 Barolo: Changing Times, Changing Wines</a>, Antonio Galloni, January 2025 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2020-barolo-selective-excellence-jan-2024">2020 Barolo: Selective Excellence</a>, Antonio Galloni, January 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2020-barolo-part-two-sep-2024">2020 Barolo: Part Two</a>, Antonio Galloni, September 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2019-barolo-back-on-track-jan-2023">2019 Barolo: Back on Track</a>, Antonio Galloni, January 2023

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