1999 Barolo Brunate

This wine was tasted during La Festa del Barolo's Gala Dinner in April 2013.

"The spirit of sharing and camaraderie the world’s best wines inspire was in evidence at La Festa del Barolo, where I was fortunate to enjoy a range of emotionally moving, transcendental wines." Antonio Galloni

“The weather in 1999 was ideal. The warm days and cold nights leading up to the harvest allowed for a gradual maturation of the fruit and a classic late harvest. I remember that the fermentations were perfect, there were no temperature spikes or other challenges like we had in vintages like 1997. I did nothing, the wines made themselves,” says Rinaldi in his characteristically gruff manner. I found both wines to show a pronounced note of alcohol, to which Rinaldi replied “when Nebbiolo matures gradually the wines do develop a certain level of sugars, although I find that the 1999s, unlike the 2003s for example, have a corresponding amount of acidity to provide balance. Ultimately I am not primarily concerned with sugar levels, but rather I am looking for that overall sense of harmony in my wines and I think the 1999s have that equilibrium. Although the wines have started to develop some secondary aromas, I expect these to be very long-lived Barolos.” Vinification is extremely traditional at this estate. The wines are fermented using indigenous yeasts in wood vats without the aid of temperature control and are aged in medium-size casks prior to being bottled in the summer of the fourth year following the harvest. These 1999s have perhaps a little less finesse but more power than 2001 and should mature later. The Brunate/Le Coste in particular remains a very pure expression of Nebbiolo and is reference level wine for the region. Rinaldi will bottle one small barrel of 2002 Barolo.

Rinaldi was trying desperately to finish a major cellar addition before the beginning of the 2004 harvest when I stopped by to taste. Rinaldi continues to make Barolo in thoroughly traditional fashion; the wines are normally tough in the early going but have a history of aging extremely well. Happily, the unprecedented run of warm vintages since the mid-'90s has resulted in numerous wines that are fuller and less austere than some past vintages here. I was quite taken with Rinaldi's young 2001s, which will not be bottled until next year. Rinaldi describes this vintage as an ideal year for nebbiolo:"Not too hot, and with gradual ripening; much better than a year in which the nebbiolo ripens too quickly. "The wines boast very good flesh to buffer their substantial nebbiolo tannins. Rinaldi has a single 2002 foudre from Le Coste fruit, which he may yet bottle as Barolo. This sample displayed an exotic dried-grape character and some botrytis notes; I thought I was drinking a dry port.

Rinaldi is a Barolo traditionalist, aggressively so. "I love severe Barolo," he told me in September, adding that, for him, the 1998 vintage was the next best year to '96 in that sense. "I don't like fruity Barolo," he went on. "I like the perfume of tar, the secondary and tertiary aromas that develop through long aging. Fruitiness is a characteristic of nebbiolo, not of Barolo. The most noble perfumes of Barolo come from aging in barrel and bottle, especially in bottle. Nebbiolo for Barolo needs slow ripening," Rinaldi added. "Cool September nights are best. It was too hot in 2000 to make Barolo with classic perfume." Rinaldi eschews barriques and many other modern techniques. "People who use technology to provoke the malolactic fermentation, those who add enzymes or de-acidify, ruin the ageworthiness of their wines," he asserts. "My private clients require a long-aging wine."