A Tribute to Beppe Rinaldi

BY ANTNIO GALLONI | SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Versione Italiana

“Barolo must be an austere, powerful wine, without fruit,” Beppe Rinaldi often told me. In his hands, the wines were often just that. But to talk about wine is almost superfluous in looking back at the remarkable life of a man who was first and foremost a cultural and intellectual icon, and a winemaker a close second. Sadly, Rinaldi lost his battle with illness a few days short of his seventieth birthday. He leaves behind a rich, multi-faceted legacy that will live forever under the stewardship of his wife, Annalisa, and daughters Marta and Carlotta.

Beppe Rinaldi in his winery

Beppe Rinaldi, affectionately known as ‘Citrico’ for his acerbic wit, was born on September 17, 1948.  Originally trained as a veterinarian, Rinaldi took over the family estate only upon the passing of his father, Battista, in 1992. Rinaldi championed all of the tenets of the traditional school of Barolo, chief among them the steadfast belief that Barolo should be made from the blending of multiple vineyards, a view shared by his cousin, Bartolo Mascarello. He was also an outspoken critic of what he viewed as over expansion within the Barolo region, both when it came to projects he did not think were respectful of the bucolic atmosphere of the Langhe hills, such as the Boscareto Hotel (which he dubbed an ‘eco-monster’) and the increase of plantable hectares of Nebbiolo for Barolo. Rinaldi was equally candid when it came to politics and other social issues, enormously refreshing in today’s world of extreme political correctness. 

Piedmont was a very different place when I first started visiting in the late 1990s. Rinaldi, like so many other traditional producers, was completely out of favor with both the press and consumers, with the exception of a handful of Barolo appassionati who sought out the wines. At the time, Rinaldi had 5-6 different vintages for sale, as did pretty much all estates. You could buy as much wine as you wanted. The price? A pittance. Rinaldi was almost embarrassed to take your money. One of the reasons I started writing about wine is because, at the time, there was very little information available about Rinaldi and other traditionally-minded growers, including so many names that today are among the most coveted producers not just in Piedmont or Italy, but the world. Pretty soon, the allure of these wines and the families who made them became an obsession.