I bet there are some Barolo connoisseurs out there. Please shed some light if you can on more reasons that what I listed about what makes this great wine so special.

Barolo is the most powerful red wine from the single-varietal Nebbiolo grape and it is produced in the Piemonte region of northwest Italy. A number of factors make this wine special starting with viticulture and vinification practices all the way to the aging process. Barolo is a special wine because of its color, aromas, taste, aging, and its ability to complement food. It is Italy’s highest priced wine and commands its expense because of its high quality. A break from the traditional method of making Barolo has resulted in different styles with modernized winemaking techniques.

What makes Barolo special? The region itself is in a very expensive part of Italy whose growers have invested a lot of money on production. I assimilate it to the Mercedes Benz of Italian red wines. This sub region grows grapes in small vineyard areas where supply does not meet the high demand. This region also has no known history of producing “jug” or “bulk wines.” What makes Barolo what it is begins with continental climate in this inland region with hot summers and longer autumns which create long ripening seasons. Because Barolo is in the foothills of the Alps, winters are cooler with year round rainfall which is highest in April/May and October/November. The weather within these climates can vary which explains the significance of vintage variations as one often reads about high ratings for one or two years per decade. The terroir also impacts the wine. To the west, calcareous marl of La Morra and Barolo is more compact and fertile and produces softer, fruitier, aromatic wines that age faster. To the east, sandstone of Monforte and Serralunga is less compact, poorer in quality and less fertile which results in more intense structured wines that mature more slowly than those of the west. Heavy investment has been put into this region for the past 20 years for continued superior quality wine. As a result, Barolo has had a loyal following by mainly its export markets.

All traditional fine Barolos are common in style in that the color is never deep or opaque. It is pale ruby fading toward garnet or brick with age. Its complex aroma consists of plums, rose petals, tar, and sometimes white truffle. The tannin and alcohol levels are generally high. As tannins polymerize, leathery flavors and aromas develop. Also, intense Barolos have enormous structure that matures more slowly. Modern style Barolos, on the other hand, are fruitier, less tannic, can be drunk sooner in five years, and are less oaky than the traditional ones. Modernization in technique accounts for newer styles.

While traditional Barolo is a product of up to two-month old maceration of grapes less phenolically mature and highly tannic picked early in the harvest, modern Barolo is produced by temperature controlled fermentation, reduced maceration from two months to five to seven days through use of rotofermenters, pumping over as opposed to submerged cap, and use of Barriques. These modern methods result into softer and fruitier wines. Nebbiolo is harvested later in the season, thus producing super ripe grapes along with complete ripeness of tannins. Also, single cru Barolos are “handcrafted” wines that often command higher price tags than negociant blends.

As factors that account for different styles include terroir, age of the vines, harvesting times, fermentation and maceration durations, and amount of aging time in oak, any time saving step is a deviant from traditional Barolo making which results in a variation of styles that one can differentiate with experience tasting this highly sought after wine. If there were to be an increase of investors who are under pressure to make a return on investment, it will be even more increasingly difficult and expensive to procure traditional Barolos.

Any recommendations for a good ready to drink Barolo in the $60 price range?
Thanks!

Barolo is certainly a food wine. Eutherial on the nose. It can be literally transforming from finish to end. It can display several emotions within one sitting. From delicate to brooding and complex.

I think cometspider described it well once, when he referred to a great Barolo as 'head shaking good'.

For people who don't want to wait 10 years to drink a Barolo, does anyone suggest Barbaresco. I was hoping that some of these would be ready to drink sooner. Never had one. Thoughts??

Although Barbareseco is more feminine than Barolo, I still think that the single vineyards are very age-worthy. If you want something that is drinking well now, the 2001 Sori Paitin Barbaresco is drinking beautifully at the present time. Just pop and pour and watch it evolve in the glass.

The great thing about Nebbiolo, is that it ages so well, both in Barolo and Barbaresco. Even after 15 years some can still be considered babies. That said, there are many 2003 and 2004 Barolos you can already drink now (Bruna Grimaldi, Paolo Scavino) . They will of course improve with bottle age, but they are good to great now. To make it more fun there are also a number of 2004 Barbarescos, that are better left alone for the next 2-4 years at least. (Sottimano, Produttori del Barbaresco) It sometimes makes me nervous, opening a bottle and hoping I left it alone enough

I think both areas produce beautiful wines. Does Barolo still has the upper-hand? I think yes, but not much. As far as modernism and traditionalism goes. I think its blending, both sides learning from eachother. Look EG to Aldo Conterno. There are not that many really hardcore left, like Giacomo Conterno and the late greats Bartolo Mascarello and Theobaldo Cappelano.

One things' for sure, there is a lot to enjoy out there and I will do just that !

John in NYC,

Interesting post. I also happened to google your post and it seems that it is identical to a blogpost under Barolo news

Are you the author of this blog or did you copy and past it into your post and pass it on as your own?

Sid_Mac - I've tasted only a handful of 2004 Barolos last year, and they were really drinking well. Many of them can be had for $60 or less and should still be on retail shelves today. You may want to try some sooner than later since these wines tend to shut down as it ages and then reemerge into a more complex wine.

Mimik:

What great eyes you have grandma! Actually this was an essay I put up myself. It was an optional case study assignment I did for wine class.

As per your question as to whether I copied it from someone, as you can see, I posted it
on June 8, 2008. The article you saw in the Barolo News that you think I might have copied from was published on March 27, 2009. (That date is written on the top of that page that you saw). http://www.barolonews.com/?p=19.

It would thus be very hard for me to write something in 2008 that was copied from an article that was not written until 2009. I hope this answers your question. However, do follow up regarding that and other accounts.

John in NYC

Thanks for the explanation but a simple "yes" would have sufficed.

Mimik-
I looked into the matter further and discovered that someone (no author given) had copied my entire article, not just the idea. I appreciate that you brought it to my attention. I got all antsy toward you because at first you had thought I was the plagiarizer so I want to return to this post and nullify any hard feelings I displayed toward you.

As I go on to the next step, I hope there are protection rights on blogs. I notice there was no author's name written on the article so I wonder whether it was their webmaster who did it.

quote:

Originally posted by John in NYC:
Mimik-
I looked into the matter further and discovered that someone (no author given) had copied my entire article, not just the idea. I appreciate that you brought it to my attention. I got all antsy toward you because at first you had thought I was the plagiarizer so I want to return to this post and nullify any hard feelings I displayed toward you.

As I go on to the next step, I hope there are protection rights on blogs. I notice there was no author's name written on the article so I wonder whether it was their webmaster who did it.

Wow. Interesting turn of events. I hope you get the guy who plagarized you. I wasn't sure who the author of the article was in the beginning so I left it up to you to tell me. I didn't immediately assume you plagarized it. Hey, and be honoured of being accused of plagarizing your own article as it was a damn good one to begin with!!