Just looking to get everyone’s thoughts on the best Chinato.
I’ve only had several so far and one of them actually wasn’t a Barolo Chinato but just a Chinato. It was still very good imo though. (Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Chinato)
From the few that I had GD Vajra’s Barolo Chinato was hands down the best. I have since put a couple away to cellar, but not even sure I will prefer them aged.
Which is your favorite? And do you cellar them and let them age?
Are you sure the Borgono wasn’t a Barolo Chinato? I am not aware of them making some other non-Barolo based Chinato.
Vajra is great and the price is right. For me, that’s a really high QPR Chinato.
Do you use your Chinato in Cocktails or drink it straight up? Could affect the answer here.
Honestly, I would look at price and producer as the main factors here and just get whichever high quality producer is offering their Chinato for a decent price. The differences from producer to producer are likely to be small and insignificant (IMO).
Unopened, I would say you’re safe for about 5 years in a proper cellar. Aromatics may wane a bit. After 5 years, you’re probably rolling the dice and won’t be getting the experience you paid for (an aromatized wine). YMMV.
so was I. Thought it was a barolo chinato when I bought it, but I wasn’t disappointed. Not really sure what varietal is used for it, but I imagine it is not nebbiolo
Here are those 2 though
and this one. pretty sure this borgogno is not related though.
almost always I have them straight up. If I want a cocktail I generally go with Carpano Antica, which tbh I occasionally drink straight up as well.
Very interesting! Might be a blend of nebbiolo and barbera?
The Borgogno links are a bit confusing as to why they make two Chinato. To my knowledge (plus the help of Google, which auto-corrected to
Chinatown.), Chinato is always from Barolo other than some rare Moscato). Chinato as we know it was invented by Cappellano.
https://madrose.com/cappellano-the-first-and-greatest-barolo-chinato/
BTW, if you want to help the home team, Kelley Fox made OR Pinot Noir Vermouth in 2020 to counter the effects of wildfire smoke. I found it to be very similar to Chinato.
Is Chinato technically just a sweet vermouth with some bitter elements? I was thinking it might play well with Bourbon as a sort of cross between an amaro and a vermouth (maybe 2 parts Boubon or Rye, 1 part Chinato), though I’ve never tried it.
Carpano Antica has always been my “go to” vermouth as well, though I’ve always reduced the amount called for in any recipe by just a bit (10-15%) as it has the problem of being a bit too distinctive/powerful/overwhelming for its own good. Recently, however, instead of simply reducing the vermouth pour size I have started blending my own vermouth for cocktail, typically half Carpano plus half of either Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino, Punt e Mes, or Cinzano 1757. I haven’t formed any firm conclusion about which blend works the best, but I feel like any of the blends work well with Negronis (though for a Boulevardier I prefer Punt e Mes or Cocchi).
possibly. It seemed almost fully resolved and I believe it was the most recent bottling. So I have been assuming more barbera and/ or even dolcetto, but I really have no clue.
That’s what I thought too. It is possible that it’s still nebbiolo, but just not aged like Barolo so they didnt want to put the Barolo name on it. Seemed resolved though for recent nebbiolo.
BTW, if you want to help the home team, Kelley Fox made OR Pinot Noir Vermouth in 2020 to counter the effects of wildfire smoke. I found it to be very similar to Chinato.
I just ordered 1!
The pages you linked to and the Borgogno data sheet on their three chinatos carefully avoid saying what grapes are in the plain red chinato, or where they are grown. The white is made from cortese grapes, it says, though it doesn’t say the geographic source.
I wonder if they made the plain red or the white before the new owners took over. Perhaps these are an extension of the existing product line, which was previously limited by the availability of surplus Barolo fruit.
Sort of??? I find Chinato, as a whole, to be of higher quality than vermouth, probably because it is typically made from DOCG Barolo wine, whereas vermouth is kind of a generic term for aromatized wines. You have to reach into the higher end vermouths to have a true apples to apples comparison IMO.
I do find the higher end vermouths to be a better QPR when it comes to making cocktails, as you can find amazing stuff in the $20-30 range, whereas Chinato’s entry point is usually mid-30s. That said, we have and do use Chinato when we want that “wow” factor. Definitely don’t need as much of it as you do Vermouth as it’s pretty concentrated. I love it in a Boulevardier or Negroni.
I find Barolo Chinato fairly close the the amaros made in northwest Italy (though not like the amaros in other regions). The Piedmontese amaros tend to be lowish in alcohol (18%-25%) and fairly heavy on the quinine and other bitters.
For what it’s worth, I preferred a 2011 bottling Cappellano opened at 9 years age to a 2016 bottling opened at 3 years.
My impression was of evolution as you might expect, with more integration, concentration, and some softening of the spice in the older bottle.
A small sample size, but there you have it.
Have heard very good things about Pio Cesare’s offering.
You certainly don’t have to, but it is safe to age these for decades. In fact, for me they are better with bottle age, losing some of the rough edges of their youth. I’ve had Cappellano Chinato bottled in the 60s recently and it was terrific. FWIW, I think Cappellano is the best producer.
Barolo Chinato has to have 10 years maturity to use that name. So, the most obvious guess is the other bottling was younger than that.
Chinato itself isn’t a protected name, so you can find them from other regions of Italy, as well as some from places like Oregon and California.
The United States government classifies all such infused wines as vermouth. Any Italian would have a gesture for that. Not the same thing, nor one a subcategory of the other, but related. Vermouth worth buying should be enjoyable on its own. Chinato can be used in cocktails.
I had a Sicilian Chinato that seemed like it had a good portion of cocao nib infusion.
Have had the Cappellano 2011 base bottling several times. Actually preferred it younger, as the punchy quinine and herbal notes decreased in intensity with age.
Have left a few more bottles aside in the name of science.
No. Barolo Chinato is made from DOCG Barolo wine. “Chinato” means “china-ed” (“china” meaning cinchona) and “something Chinato” is an aromatized wine with cinchona bark used in the process to add bitterness. For example here’s a red Vermouth Chinato made on a base of Barbera d’Asti: Chinato | Mancino Vermouth
The Borgogno Chinato normale definitely has some Barbera, they changed the tech sheets since its initial US release about 4 years ago.
Going back to the original question, I really liked the Vajra Chinato but it’s the only Barolo Chinato I’ve had. How does it differ from the Cappellano?
I also see in Wine-Searcher that the Giulio Cocchi was highly rated (18.5/20 and 18/20) by presumably two different tasters at Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages, but it has a middling CT rating. Has anyone had that?
@Monica_Larner has only rated the Pio Cesare (94 pts three twice, 91 prior).
There seems to be a dearth of information around this. Spectator (Sanderson), the World of Fine Wine and Kerin O’Keefe’s new website don’t seem to have reviewed any Barolo Chinatos that I can find. O’Keefe doesn’t even mention it in her book that I can find.
Does everyone agree with the characterizations in this article at Punch?