2018 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera

I tasted a number of exceptional wines at Elio Grasso this fall. The 2019s are gorgeous, vivid Barolos that capture the best the year had to offer. As always, the wines see lengthy macerations and are aged entirely in cask. The Gavarini Chiniera offers a bit more brilliance and vertical lift, while the Ginestra Casa Matè is a richer, broader wine. I also tasted the 2016 Barolo Riserva Rüncot, which spent a whopping sixty days on the skins and four years in 100% new French oak, none of which is evident. It is a riveting wine, to say the least. The Grassos embody all the values of Piedmont’s historic artisan families. It’s great to see them at the top.

The 2018 Elio Grasso Barolos will give readers a very good idea of how the challenges of the growing season played out in different sites. Specifically, the Gavarini Chiniera seems to have handled the rigors of the year more successfully than the Ginestra Casa Matè. "We left more cover crop in the vineyards than normal to help soak up excess moisture, and we did two passes to reduce the crop,” said Gianluca Grasso. “Fermentations were on the shorter side for us, but we still did submerged cap maceration at the end.” Production is about 13,000 bottles each for the Gavarini Chiniera and Ginestra Casa Matè, down significantly from the 20,000 or so that is more typical. Grasso fans will not want to miss the 2015 Riserva Rüncot, which is also being released this year.