I haven’t read the report carefully, I just skimmed it to see if he liked my producers. (He did.) It is such a change from 20 years ago to have journalists who like classic Barolo.
I love Eric Guido’s writing, too.
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Evening all, this is a great thread, fitting for my first contribution to Wine Berserkers. A brief introduction, My name is Joshua, I’m a writer from the UK and run Word on the Grapevine, a wine blog exclusively covering Langhe, as well as some other occasional musings. I tasted extensively in Langhe this month and would like to share my thoughts on the vintage.
It goes without saying that each vintage is indeed a puzzle, but 2018 Barolo might well be a tangram.
In 2018, early rain promoted disease, uneven flowering and vigorous vegetative growth, creating more shade and diverting resources, which meant fruit was slow to ripen physiologically. Large, vigorous canopies increased shading and may have inhibited tannin development, while warm days and nights in September encouraged sugar ripeness at the expense of acidity. Finally, rain before harvesting likely increased potassium uptake; increasing must pH, while earlier than ideal picking sacrificed additional days of physiological ripening. Challenges notwithstanding, the finished wines are an altogether more positive picture than their contributory climatic components might suggest. A gradual, warm summer and substantial diurnal shift immediately before harvest saved ripening. Meanwhile, well-draining sandy sites withstood the early rain, and winegrowers made intelligent decisions in the vineyard and the winery.
You can read my full report here: 2018 Barolo: challenging conditions and gratifying wines
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Thanks, Joshua, for the summary and the link to your blog.
Thanks for the report. I also follow your Instagram account which is filled with great content. Keep up the good work!
Joshua - Thanks for the fuller report on your blog.
I was disappointed to see you buying into Orley Ashenfelter’s rather simplistic correlations of wine prices and weather data. When he first ran the numbers for vintages from the 50s to 70s circa 1990, I’m not surprised that there was a decent correlation between temperatures and prices of the wines at maturity, because there were so many bad years in that span.
But when he updated his figures, he ended up predicting that 2003 was one of the four great vintages of the modern era, along with 1989, 1990 and 2000. And 1982 didn’t meet his weather criteria, because there was rain late in the season and it wasn’t much warmer than usual.
He also fails to account for the impact of Parker’s ratings on Bordeaux prices. From the late 80s on, his scores had a profound impact on prices, and he liked warmer vintages. I think it’s much more plausible to correlate prices with Parker scores than with very primitive weather stats (average temps and rainfall).
The fallacy of this kind of primitive predictive model should be apparent in Piedmont, particularly, where you have vintages like 2014 and 2018 that might have been written off if you’d just looked at the weather.
Before I was into wine, I was acquainted with some fellas who bought a couple hundred cases of 2003 Bordeaux on futures based on the warm weather readings and their interpretation of weather maps. I can still remember seeing their weather maps. I think they are still drinking them down.
Some '03 Bordeaux has turned out OK, but I’d hate to be sitting on cases of it.
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Fair challenge, John. Admittedly, I wasn’t aware that Ashenfelter’s model had faltered under further scrutiny, your explanation of why makes sense. However, I’d like to add that I didn’t entirely buy into his model, even before you brought this to my attention, hence my comments in this report. I’m skeptical of writing vintages off based on mere observations or assessments of weather, wine quality is multifaceted and complex and evolution unpredictable and unexpected. I have updated my report to account for your contributions. Thanks again!
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I’m in Piedmont now, tasting for three days at a number of producers. While my opinion is worth what you paid for it, I’ll share some thoughts here after we get through everything. My gut reaction through day 2 is that it’s a pretty schizophrenic vintage. I haven’t read any critical reviews of specific wines so I’m interested to see my thoughts compared to others. More to come…
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I will be headed to Piedmont in late Aug/early Sep for the first time - I’d be appreciative if you were able to get a sense if they are pouring 2019s by then? I wonder when they transition between vintages (maybe that’s an obvious question to answer).
Technically January four years after the harvest. In practice, release date if the prior vintage is sold out.
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When I was there in late August/early September 2016, it was just 2012s, except one place where they had just bottled the '13s and had a couple of samples.
FYI, that is a busy time because producers are bottling. It’s not the easiest time to get the attention of winemakers or proprietors.
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Thanks. A slight bummer as I was hoping to try 2019s… am kinda excited for 2019s…
I believe the requirements for Barolo are that it has to be released no earlier than three years after the harvest date, so I doubt many will be available for your trip. However, don’t sweat the vintage…just have fun and enjoy whatever they are offering. You might be surprised with an older vintage by some producers.
Not quite. The requirement is 38 months of aging (at least 18 months in wood) starting November 1 after the harvest. So, as Greg said, January in the fourth calendar year after the harvest at the earliest legally. Thus, the 2019s will be released starting in January 2023.
I will be headed to the Langhe next week with Greg and the rest of our usual crew. I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store. I will try to post some TN’s when I get time.
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It’s slightly out of the range discussed, but I’m a big fan of 2012. Very classic and terroir transparent. I’m less of a fan of 2011 as it’s warmer and masks terroir in my experience.
Which post-2012 vintages have similar qualities to 2012?
2014 was pretty bad at some addresses, like Cavallotto, although I haven’t tasted the full range.
I completely agree with you about 2012, I loaded up my cellar. Healthy cooler vintages make elegant wines.
I find the best 2014s are very much to my taste, which is odd as the weather was so horrible for much of the growing season. Note that Cavallotto declassified their 2014, as they weren’t happy with it, which made for a striking Langhe Nebbiolo.
I’m with you on 2012. And my take on 2011 Barolo was like yours. But the 2011 Produttori Barbarescos came out quite well and, as I recall, Barbaresco generally did better in '11 than Barolo, while 2010 was less successful there.
I don’t know how things are now, but when I visited Piedmont some years ago, every producer I visited offered barrel samples. So there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to try 2019s at least at the smaller producers and get a very good sense of the wines.
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