Barolo
Known as the king of wines, it is potent, complex and long-lived wine made from the Nebbiolo grape. The appellation is spread over 2,134 ha in total and consists of several villages and communes. divided into a multitude of individual vineyard sites and crus similar to Burgundy, with many producers owning small plots of the individual crus.
The main winemaking approach is a long maceration of Nebbiolo grapes - between 30 to 60 days -followed by a long maturation period in large old casks for a minimum of 38 months. And many producers often choose to age their wines even longer than this because of the intense fruit and powerful tannins of their grapes.
The combination of microclimate, altitude, soil, exposition and each winemaker’s individual touch is what makes every Barolo different. And in the main communes such as Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, and La Morra, their Barolos are renowned for certain characteristics unique to each of them, due to their differing soils and exposition.
Barolo
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Piedmont | 2 | 98 (VN) | $1,755.00 | |||||
Vinous (98)The 2015 Barolo Sperss shows all of the darkness and muscle that are so typical of Serralunga. Black cherry, plum, licorice, incense, gravel, cured meats and scorched earth infuse this potent, backward wine with tremendous character. My impression is that the extraction and oak are all a bit more pushed here relative to the other wines in the range. |
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Piedmont | 3 | 96 (JS) | $898.00 | |||||
James Suckling (96)The fresh and just ripe strawberry aromas really come through here, together with some licorice and floral highlights. Medium to full body with fine, focused tannins that are vertical and bring your palate down through the wine. A solid and beautiful wine for the vintage. Try after 2025. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 98-100 (JD) | $947.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (98-100)The 2019 Barolo Conteisa is a noble wine, with angular and drying tannins, as well as more mineral expression. Notes of medicinal herbs, crushed stones, and pure cherry lead to a wine that is more restrained right now but will be fantastic. Through the palate, it has compact but wonderful concentration and a driving structure and is more herbaceous, savory, and mineral than fruity and floral. It is outstanding. Drink the 2020s while waiting for the 2019s. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 98-100 (JD) | $369.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (98-100)The 2019 Barolo Conteisa is a noble wine, with angular and drying tannins, as well as more mineral expression. Notes of medicinal herbs, crushed stones, and pure cherry lead to a wine that is more restrained right now but will be fantastic. Through the palate, it has compact but wonderful concentration and a driving structure and is more herbaceous, savory, and mineral than fruity and floral. It is outstanding. Drink the 2020s while waiting for the 2019s. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 98-100 (JD) | $1,845.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (98-100)The 2019 Barolo Conteisa is a noble wine, with angular and drying tannins, as well as more mineral expression. Notes of medicinal herbs, crushed stones, and pure cherry lead to a wine that is more restrained right now but will be fantastic. Through the palate, it has compact but wonderful concentration and a driving structure and is more herbaceous, savory, and mineral than fruity and floral. It is outstanding. Drink the 2020s while waiting for the 2019s. |
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Piedmont | 2 | 97 (JD) | $2,300.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (97)The Serralunga power comes through in the 2020 Barolo Conteisa. Boasting a jeweled, shimmering ruby color, it’s ripe and expressive with pristine notes of strawberry preserve, balsamic herbs, candied flowers, and sweet tobacco. It offers a lot of ripe sapidity on the palate, with a resinous quality, a touch of warmth, a rounded feel, and great length. It’s fairly approachable now, but it’s going to have the structure to last over the long haul, 20 years or so. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 95 (WA) | $1,230.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95)The 2013 Barolo Conteisa is now officially a DOCG wine following years as a Langhe Nebbiolo or IGT wine. The first vintage was 1996 and fruit is sourced from the Cerequio cru in La Morra. This is a classic and coherent expression that is characterized by crunchy fruit flavors and sweet tannins. Fruit came into the winery at very low temperatures and saw slow fermentations. Generally speaking, the 2013 vintage is characterized by slow ripening and a long growing season (unlike 2012 that saw more concentrated heat). This is a balanced and homogenous wine with a softly caressing nature. It offers aromas of citrus, summer fruit and even a touch of watermelon pulp. This wine is usually considered the more immediate of Gaja's two new Barolo wines, yet this vintage surely needs extra time to evolve. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 96 (VN) | $1,425.00 | |||||
Vinous (96)The 2017 Barolo Conteisa is rich, ample and inviting. Sweet pipe tobacco, cedar and dried flowers lend captivating aromatic presence to the Gaja family's La Morra Barolo. Even so, the 2017 is quite closed today, which is rather unusual for a wine that is typically far more open in the early going. That's probably a good sign for the future, though. Time in the glass brings out the classic Conteisa red-toned fruit profile. More than anything else, I am so impressed with how the 2017 gets better and better with air. This is a terrific showing. Sadly, production is down by about 50% because of severe selection. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 94 (WS) | $1,920.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (94)Power and charm combine in this exotic, black-colored, beautifully perfumed, balanced Barolo. Sure, it's a barrique-boosted Nebbiolo, but look at the exquisite result: sweet tannins, full body, exciting violet, blackberry, mint, smoke and tar notes, and a rock-solid but harmonious finish. Best from 2003 through 2010. 2,800 cases made. -PM |
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Piedmont | 1 | 94 (WS) | $3,930.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (94)Power and charm combine in this exotic, black-colored, beautifully perfumed, balanced Barolo. Sure, it's a barrique-boosted Nebbiolo, but look at the exquisite result: sweet tannins, full body, exciting violet, blackberry, mint, smoke and tar notes, and a rock-solid but harmonious finish. Best from 2003 through 2010. 2,800 cases made. -PM |
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Piedmont | 3 | 95 (WS) | $2,105.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (95)Blueberry and ripe raspberry aromas, with hints of fresh flowers, follow through to a full body, with extra-refined yet powerful tannins and a long, long finish. Polished and well-crafted. Best after 2014. 1,500 cases made. -JS |
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Piedmont | 1 | 96+ (VN) | $1,720.00 | |||||
Vinous (96+)Good deep red. Knockout, almost liqueur-like nose combines plum, redcurrant, red licorice, marzipan, menthol, tobacco and loamy earth. Large-scaled, broad and deep, with its powerful sweetness leavened by strong minerality and a distinct medicinal reserve. As concentrated as a solid. The slowly building finish shows inexorable length, saturating the palate with salty minerality. I'd bet on this one for the long haul. |
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Piedmont | 9 | 96-97 (VN) | $2,040.00 | |||||
Vinous (96-97)Very good deep red. Multidimensional aromas of raspberry, flowers, mocha, menthol, orange peel, licorice and underbrush, plus a whiff of petrol that reminded me of riesling. Densely packed and powerful but without any undue weight, showing terrific finesse and mouthfilling breadth to its flavors of red fruits, menthol and minerals. Superb inner-mouth tension here. Has the strength of fruit to support the powerful tannins on the unflagging finish. This should gain in complexity in bottle for two or three decades. |
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Known as the king of wines, it is potent, complex and long-lived wine made from the Nebbiolo grape. The appellation is spread over 2,134 ha in total and consists of several villages and communes. divided into a multitude of individual vineyard sites and crus similar to Burgundy, with many producers owning small plots of the individual crus.
The main winemaking approach is a long maceration of Nebbiolo grapes - between 30 to 60 days -followed by a long maturation period in large old casks for a minimum of 38 months. And many producers often choose to age their wines even longer than this because of the intense fruit and powerful tannins of their grapes.
The combination of microclimate, altitude, soil, exposition and each winemaker’s individual touch is what makes every Barolo different. And in the main communes such as Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, and La Morra, their Barolos are renowned for certain characteristics unique to each of them, due to their differing soils and exposition.
