2015 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barbera d’Alba- Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d’Alba (10/15/2019)
A beautiful fruit and floral driven nose. Lovely perfume. There’s ripe berry and cherry fruit with good snap on the palate. This walks the line between radiant ripe fruit and focused acidity beautifully. Round, yet not fat, pretty mid weighted for barbers, with beautiful clarity and depth. There is plenty going on here, but it is so delicious and easy to drink one is tempted to overlook it and just be happy drinking it. There is an effortlessness to this wine that makes you want to drink much more than one glass. Beautiful. A paradoxically forward yet understatedly graceful Barbera. I really like '15 for Barbera. Delicious with a fennel sausage pizza. (92 pts.)
Thanks for the note. I really love the G Rinaldi barbera – it’s probably one of the best examples I’ve had of the grape. It’s a shame they tend to be so hard to find here in the US.
For my money this is the best Barbera out there. Incredible drinkability with only moderate extraction and alcohol compared to all the “super-Barberas” being produced today.
there are shops that also charge $90 for the bartolo… parcelle has the 16 listed for $95 while their price on the 15 rinaldi is $82. obviously this is not the actual retail price of either of these wines. a quick check on w-s shows the UK average price of around $49 for the rinaldi which is probably a more accurate assessment of the true value.
For the sake of comparison, a 2015 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d’Alba Vigna Francia tasted last year was about as magical a Barbera experience as I could imagine there being. And I loaded up at around $60/btl. Found the ‘16 to be very tight and borderline unapproachable last fall so I swept up some more ‘15 lingering in the market.