The Master of Traditional Barolo: A Giuseppe Rinaldi Retrospective

WINE TALK
21

And Rinaldi labels remind me of Rousseau labels. Both beautiful.

22

Hi Eric,
Epic vertical. I only have the 1996 - in mags! - and I guess am not surprised this was not included. Do you find it in an awkward place?
I’m always looking for a TN that offers some hope it’s approaching its drinking window:~[

23

I feel very tempted to open a 2007.

24

I hope you are a young man! :wink:

25

Like Gouges to Chevillon.

26

Not so helpful, Keith.

27

Would you please elaborate? Curious to know what you mean.

28

I would say similar. Both fairly traditional. Conterno’s cellars are more clean and modern. Based on other people’s reports, that may lead to fewer bad bottles, but that has not been my experience. Specifically, I would say Beppe’s Brunate (and previously Brunate Le Coste) is most similar to Conterno’s Cascina Francia in price, quality and style, though each is true to its commune (Barolo for Rinaldi tending to be a bit more lush and floral. Serralunga for Conterno tending to be a bit harder with even more power. Monfortino takes the power to another level entirely.)

29

Thanks

30

Sorry I took so long to respond, I’ve been on family vacation these last four days.

We didn’t have access to the '96, not that we didn’t include it on purpose. I do agree with Ken’s comment about patience, but I also find '96s are starting to open up more recently. We did a '96 blind tasting earlier this year and were happily surprised that more than half of the wines were starting to show more open. Granted, you’re talking about mags, so they’ll probably be aging even slower. I’ll certainly look to taste the '96s soon, as I see from my tasting notes that’s its one of the few vintages I haven’t had from Rinaldi.

31

Thanks a lot Eric. Amazing wines.
When did they change label design? 1996?

32

Do you mean from that orange one? The most recent one I have is 1969:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/1969.html

After that, they used the one with the lyre in the upper left:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/1974.html

Then in 1989 and the early 1990’s came the one with the lyre in the top center:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/Brunate1990R.html

The current label started with the 1995:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/BLC1995.html

For a long time, there has also been the scarab label, mostly on European releases and magnums:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/Brunate1970R.html

33

Hi Ken
Thanks for all the label-info
I meant this:
https://photos-3.dropbox.com/t/2/AAABlPtl-hx3XrQP2jiwR3MWaVaNs1xrqzRxFuG2UyK0XA/12/417430920/jpeg/32x32/1/_/1/2/br_1892365~2.jpg/EL7wrqwDGAMgAigC/07yABGL-K-7q6fEW3pHTnfrgj-AFFUvYEsMavM-BIR4?size=1024x768&size_mode=2
There is a discrepancy, no?

34

Great read, thanks Eric!

35

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/BLC1995.html
https://photos-3.dropbox.com/t/2/AAABlPtl-hx3XrQP2jiwR3MWaVaNs1xrqzRxFuG2UyK0XA/12/417430920/jpeg/32x32/1/_/1/2/br_1892365~2.jpg/EL7wrqwDGAMgAigC/07yABGL-K-7q6fEW3pHTnfrgj-AFFUvYEsMavM-BIR4?size=1024x768&size_mode=2
Ken, can you explain the difference? Both Brunate from 1995, but…

36

I can’t see the 2nd photo. Dropbox is not a general sharing service. I have an acct, but that doesn’t allow me to see your stuff.

37

Sorry Ken

38

Different labels on the same wine. This is very common. Traditionalists are often frugal. They don’t throw anything away. They often bottle a big batch with the same label for some exporter or client, but leave the rest unlabeled. Then later, they’ll use another label, esp. say when someone buys at the winery. My guess is that the newer style label come on a roll that fits the bottling machine, while the other kind is kept at the winery for a hand-labeled wine. I think Antonio tells a story about buying bottles from Beppe and having Beppe hand him unlabeled bottles and the labels to put on himself.

Check out my page for the 1999:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/BLC1999.html

Note the photo of one person holding both styles of label. Also note the photos of 2 mags at the bottom. Both are in my cellar. They are the same size, but one has the 750ml label on it. How it got to America like that, I don’t know.

39

Thank a lot, Ken
really helpful

40

Thank you! Check out my page for the 1995:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/rinaldig/BLC1995.html

If you run across any pix of the Cannubi San Lorenzo - Ravera 1995, please let me know.