2018 Barolo

The producers in the Barolo zone are beginning to release their 2018 vintage and the season has begun inauspiciously. Massolino announced that they will not be bottling any cru Barolo in the 2018 vintage and instead will release only their Barolo Classico. An unfortunate situation for a winery that has been consistently strong for many years. That should be a very good Classico with Nebbiolo from Vigna Rhonda, Parafada, Margheria and Parussi.

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Agree - just means the classico is going to be really good this year

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I am quite curious about the vintage for Barolo, really enjoyed the 2018 Langhe Nebbiolo wines I have had. Early drinking pleasure in the best sense.

Could turn out to be quite a fun Massolino Barolo. Believe that Trediberri would do the the same, only one Barolo bottling. Ian D’Agata also mentioned that that from 2018 they no longer have the fruits from Capalot (rented plot, lease unfortunately not renewed).

The Conzorzio reported that from the end of May 2018 and the beginning of June 2018 was a period “marked by numerous storms, bringing copious rains that created some difficulties for vinegrowers from a vineyard management point of view. Indeed, problems were recorded associated with fungal diseases wherever it was not possible to intervene in time.”

For anyone interested, here is the regional consorzio’s full report.

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I am cautiously optimistic about the vintage’s prospects. I’ve only tasted from barrel but what i tasted was very interesting. Very detailed wines, not overwhelming but ripe and particularly terroir transparent. A welcome relief for a cellar bursting at the seams with either full on hedonistic or intellectual vintages. The 2018s seem to straddle the line nicely and I expect that they will turn out to be both complex and approachable.

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Which do you consider hedonistic and which intellectual? For me, 2013 and 2016 seemed to straddle the line nicely, though they might be in an intellectual stage now (I don’t know; haven’t opened any of late).

Gregory, you are probably right. The vintage may resemble 2014. For those winemakers who got ahead of the weather in late Spring, they reaped the benefits of a classic weather pattern in September and October.

Forgot to mention… When I asked Kerin O’Keefe a while back about the wine, was the first I saw to break the news about Massolino’s 2018 Barolo, she mentioned that she expect it to drink well upon release, and it should offer absolute pleasure for at least a decade or more and may well gain in complexity.

I’m sure a lot of us are waiting for 2019 champagne.gif

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What are the early reports on 2019? Where might it fall on the 2010/2013/2016 spectrum? I’ve heard good things in general but no specific details about the vintage.

I’ve bought plenty of 2013/2016, but I missed 2010. And with prices on their current trajectory, some things I buy may be out of reach by 2019.

I heard from Lorenzo Scavino at Azelia and they have bottled all of their single vineyards for the 2018 vintage and are quite satisfied with the vintage, describing it as a bright and pure vintage, not about structure, but finesse, balance and fruit purity. I look forward to tasting them next month. And speaking of Azelia, if there has been a consistently better producer in the Barolo zone over the last 10 years than Azelia, please let me know. They have not missed a beat, including in 2014 and 2017.

I would be interested in suggestions as to where on the East Coast you can you participate in tastings of the 2018s. I am learning about nebbiolo and would benefit from more intensive tastings.

I’m not an expert, but what about Vajra?

Vajra is there as well. I chose my words carefully-consistently better. I don’t want to thread drift too much, but I remember tasting Azelia’s 2014 Margheria after many mediocre 2014s from other producers and was quite impressed. Same reaction after tasting their 2017s. It does not matter what the weather throws at them, they consistently produce great wines. So, I will not be surprised that they excelled in 2018 as well.

Vietti?

Very promising report on Azelia. I need to drink more of them, truth be told. I loaded up on so much 2016 that I took 2017 off almost coMpletely from Barolo so as not to have a lopsided cellar. 2018 seems like a good bet to start buying again.

I thought '15 was solid?

I have not followed Azelia close enough to say, however a general remark is that there is such a wealth of terrific Barolo producers out there and I could name quite a few that I guess would reach the same or higher heights. I am volunteering to be a member of the tasting panel.

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I could not agree more about the wealth of terrific producers. But which do you believe have reached “higher heights”?

I just bought 3 Langhe : Rinaldi, G. Mascarello, Massolino …
Not opened yet …

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