‘A perfect year’,
Claudio Fenocchio of Giacomo Fenocchio
Barolo is situated in Piedmont in the North West of Italy and is the source of some of the greatest, most age-worthy red wines in the world. A complex patchwork of vineyards across the hills surrounding a cluster of villages (one of which gives its name to the appellation), Barolo is both well-established as a staple of any serious cellar and one of the most exciting, dynamic wine regions in Italy. Read more.
Barolo bounces back with a stellar vintage in 2019. The 2019s are potent, tightly wound wines that will thrill readers who appreciate the nuance, subtlety and structure of Nebbiolo.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com
It is clear that 2019 is a very good, potentially great vintage. Every producer that we tasted with had only good things to say about the wines, with the wines balanced across the board. The 2018 vintage produced wines which were unusually open and generous in their youth, but those from 2019 will reward time in the cellar and are much more typical of the deep, powerful wines that the region is so well known for.
2019 is a vintage that excels in elegance, which is backed up by plenty of fresh fruit and lots of ‘unsettled’ tannins. 2019s are wines to lay down: a truly classic, fresh vintage.
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com
THE 2019 VINTAGE
It is clear that 2019 is a very good, potentially great vintage. Every producer that we tasted with had only good things to say, with the wines balanced across the board. The 2018 vintage produced wines which were unusually open and generous in their youth, but those from 2019 will reward time in the cellar and are much more typical of the deep, powerful wines that the region is so well known for.
Comparisons have been drawn with recent great years, including 2010, 2013 and 2016. 2019 shares with these vintages a consistency in quality across the region, an expressiveness of sites for the single vineyard bottlings and many examples of complex, harmonious blends. This is very much a vintage to fill the cellar with!
WHY BUY BAROLO EN PRIMEUR?
There is no question that Barolo produces some of the most long-lived wines in the world, with many examples boasting drinking windows that cover several decades. Buying a case of Barolo on release is an investment in the cellar that will offer immense pleasure in years to come. Although many of the top wines will be at their best after some time in the cellar, plenty of the Barolo blends – those without a single vineyard or village on the label – will be accessible within a couple of years of landing and in many cases, the Langhe Nebbiolo wines in this offer will give immediate pleasure on arrival and serve as a delicious introduction to a producer’s style.
The ‘Burgundification’ of Barolo has seen a renewed emphasis on site expression, but the hierarchy of quality is not as clearly defined as in the Cote d’Or. Whereas a Bourgogne Rouge or Gevrey Chambertin Village will always rank below a Chambertin Grand Cru, some Barolo producers consider their Barolo blends as the truest expressions of the appellation, with the various soils and exposures with the wider region contributing to a blend greater than the sum of its parts.
