It was a somewhat warmer year, and I think the consensus was that – as a generalization – the wines lacked a little of the precision of 2010/2013/2016. Here’s what JancisRobinson.com (i.e., Walter Speller) has to say:
2015
An exceptional vintage thanks to healthy grapes and exceptionally regular bunches. A very cold winter with plenty of snow and a protracted cool and rainy spring replenished the water tables, much needed during a July that was the hottest ever on record. The vintage shows great promise, even if some grapes were relatively low in acidity.
John, if there is any lack of precision in 2015, and I do not disagree that is the consensus, I have not tasted it yet. Yes, it was hot in July in the Langhe, but in September/October (when it really counts), the weather was ideal. The Consorzio reported excellent acidity for the vintage (6.5 g/l). But I have noticed greater color and stuffing than typical.
I enjoyed both 2015 and 2016 Cappellano Rupestris in Turin recently and at my age the 2015 is far far better. The 2016 requires 25+ years
The 2015 was simply stunning
Indeed it’s a real challenge to know how much, or whether to buy into a vintage so far before tasting opportunities are even possible, or public reports start appearing. My overall strategy is to buy my top 4 or 5 favorites every year, and go deeper and wider in better vintages. But I’m in no hurry to buy '18 Barolos. They will be in market a long time, I’d expect, similar to '15 and '17.
Eg. last year I bought most of the Vajra '17 range and tasted the line up with a friend. Very happy to have bought them, though as always there are little surprises (in this case the Rivera was really the wow wine, a bit better balanced than the Bricco delle Viole). I also really liked '17 Trediberri’s Rocche, tasted separately. The fact that many producers aren’t bottling SVDs is telling, leading me to not feel the need to rush into buying.
I never tasted the '15s that widely, so I’m just reporting the view of others. I don’t recall anyone dissing the vintage, but at a big '16 tasting several years ago, for instance, Walter Speller was emphatic that '16 was the vintage to buy. That seemed to be reflected on store shelves, where '15s sat around while '16s moved out.
Greg dal Piaz was quite high on the '15s on his website, although acknowledging that they are in a somewhat bigger style:
2015s, I love so many of these wines. They are rich, powerful, with tannins that are unusually ripe and polished for a warmer vintage, accompanied by fine acids There is some jamminess here and there, but I believe that is simply baby fat that time will take care of. Many of these are really quite powerful, but the balance and transparency of most bodes well for the future. At the same time, so many of these wines exhibit astounding elegance for their proportions. To a certain degree the slight dryness of the tannins in certain wines contributes to that classism and elegance, and I expect those wines with these noble, dry tannins to close up tightly, so the early approachability of many of these wines will be deceiving. I expect some monumental wines at maturity. As a final note, I have re-tasted several wines in September of this year only to find that the wines have gained further structural firmness. I am absolutely convinced that most of these wines will age spectacularly well and will emerge from the cellar as quite classic, if richly fruited wines. Buy what you can for we are certainly in a golden age for Barolo!
In using this framework for recent years, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2016 all meet the criteria for a great vintage [long growing season; diurnal shifts; absence of shock weather events; stable weather during the last month; and a late harvest]. Two thousand-fourteen meets the criteria in Barbaresco and comes close in Barolo, where generally speaking, hail and rain were just too challenging for producers, the presence of a number of monumental wines notwithstanding. Clearly, this model is created in the present day. It won’t apply as well to vintages from previous eras, especially vintages from the 1950s-1970s. At that time, warm weather was considered ideal because grapes struggled to ripen. The warmest vineyards, those that were due south-facing, the famous sorís, were the most coveted. Today, in our climate change-challenged world, you would be hard pressed to find a producer who believes that south-facing vineyards are the most ideal sites for the future.
I tasted about 50-60 (around 40-45 it got a bit more than challenging to be sharp). I came in expecting a warm vintage, left with the conclusion that many of the wines were very balanced and elegant.
As mentioned, cannot evaluate fairly as I didn’t taste through Azelia’s line up much at all, but if I leave out the likes of B. Mascarello, Burlotto, Conterno, Cappellano, Rinaldi, etc., then I could imagine Cogno, Cavallotto, Oddero, Alessandria, Brovia, Sandri, Massolino (you might have a view/better idea), Fenocchio. Some that comes to mind now but I’m sure there are a lot of other one could consider.
Just thought a bit like I mentioned I’m up for tasting panel duties on this one.
Vinous report out. His comparisons were to 1991, 1992 and 1994. It doesn’t sound exciting, although there appear to have been a number of very good wines produced; just lots of mediocre wines.
Partly, yes. He also seemed to focus a lot on the stresses of the 2017 vintage, particularly frost, which he thinks in some circumstances caused some lingering problems into 2018.
His article started by claiming 2018 to be the “most erratic, frustratingly inconsistent Barolo vintage I have encountered in twenty-five years of visiting the region and a lifetime of drinking these wines. It is a vintage with some hits, many misses and highly variable quality throughout.”
Definitely a mixed report from Vinous, seemingly a vintage with a lot of challenges. Still, lots of very good wines made by highly skilled craftspeople. Happily this is a vintage that we might actually get to taste before buying, without the usual market rush driven by high scores.
You might want to finish the paragraph: ‘Even so, with care readers will find a number of gorgeous wines among this year’s new releases.’ Of course, I have inventory to sell.