Hi everyone-
Curious to hear your thoughts on Barolo producer Francesco Rinaldi. Modern? Traditional? How’s the quality? I see what seem like good prices online. Sometimes that’s because the wines are undervalued but other times that’s because the wine isn’t any good.
I know Giuseppe is super highly regarded and commands much higher prices. I’m not asking about him.
Thanks!
Noah
https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/traditional-vs-modern-barolo-barbaresco/99925
Good reference for modern vs traditional Barolo/Barbaresco
Francesco Rinaldi is listed as traditional.
Very good wines, particularly the older ones from the '50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
Limited experience but also surprised by the pricing. Found a ‘21 LN last month in a Torino wine shop for only 12€ and it definitely over delivered.
Any experience with newer bottlings?
I’ve enjoyed them. Some people look down their nose at them, vs Guisseppe Rinaldi but I think they drink very nicely, especially in their price tier.
However my experience is based on the 2001-2010 period (in 2010 I visited both wineries and actually preferred the F Rinaldi for midterm drinking).
They are different leagues of quality for me. I personally put Giuseppe in top tier of producers and the F Rinaldi in Tier 3 or 4 of producers. Good value wines, that can be inconsistent. 13 Brunate was fantastic and then 16 saw some misses. I’d be curious how they did in 21.
Who is making the wines these days at G Rinaldi
The sisters
I should say, the 2013 Brunate was extremely good for $45 or so. I have a 6 pack of 2013 Riserva Cannubi which I thought showed well on release as well. Looks like I paid $115 or so and its available for $125 or so…
F. Rinaldi made one of the best Barolos I’ve ever had and also a bunch more that were just eh. Pricing isn’t out of line, but you can do much better for the money.
I like the wines for the money, but I have only purchased them in great vintages when I bought more broadly than usual. Loved the 13s, for instance. They are certainly traditional, and widely appreciated, though never revered.
That’s a very good price, even for Italy.
I have an overdue note to be posted in the Nebbiolo thread for the 2011 Brunate. I would draw any conclusion in one of the lesser vintages of the 2010s. It was fine, enjoyable, perhaps a bit one dimensional.
A 2018 LN drank very well (in 2020), a positive surprise.
Care to share which were particular hits and misses?
Really, that’s interesting. My understanding was that 2016 was one of the best recent vintages in the Langhe. Any idea why this might be the case? Any particular vineyards to avoid for this producer in 2016?
1985 Cannubbio was the great one (from a restaurant in Alba, which couldn’t have hurt)
A strong vintage doesn’t mean every single producer produced the best wines of their life… it just means most over performed… And FWIW, I’m not convinced 2016 is my favorite vintage of the past 15 years either, many wines are darker and higher in Alc % than I would like…
This was one of the notes on the 2016 Brunate that had me holding off on buying that particular wine.
2016 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Le Brunate - CellarTrackerstrong text
I hope you’re wrong, see that I have 4 bottles. Which note were you referring to?
I put the CT notes above. I recall 2 others telling me F Rinaldi didn’t crush it in 2016. See, the quality of the 2013s was so high it raised great expectations for 2016 - which ultimately weren’t fulfilled. I own a ton of 2016s, but no F Rinaldi. I’m sure the wine is fine and is getting better with age. I have a 2010 Brunate at home where the CT notes were pretty bad early on, but have gotten better (also I think 2010s are in a good spot now and will open it).
Right on cue… a vintage tasting of 2016s from the barolo expert @Ken_V TN: 2016 Barolo: Ten Years After - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers