TN: 2010 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Tre Tine (Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo)

WINE TALK
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  • 2010 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Tre Tine - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (10/26/2014)
    I picked up a small allocation of the 10 Rinaldi and opened at the store. What I love about Rinaldi is the finesse. Pop and pour, almost grapy with a hint of VA. Only a few minutes of air, autumn leaves emerge with a hint of licorice. It opens up beautifully, red and black fruits, very ripe in classic Barolo way, licorice, nutmeg, tree bark, tar, iron and strong presence of mineral. Very refined palate, silky, jammy red and black fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and sweet tannins. I took about 2/3 bottle home and it got tighter at dinner, not as expressive and more mineral. The tannins are incredibly fine, it is clearly present but absolutely no dryness which is fascinating. The day later, a bit more expressive and tannins once again are nicely masked. This definitely has the material to age gracefully at least for a couple decades. Ian kindly opened the 09 Brunate to compare and it showed really well. For my palate, Rinaldi wines show the strong producer signature. If you wish to try one at this stage, I recommend an hour decanting as too much air will coiled the wine. (96 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thank you for the pop n’ pour! Sounds excellent.
I’ve heard from other places the potential for Rinaldi’s wines to have a touch of VA.
Is this something that resolves? Or ever gets to Musar-like levels of undrinkability?

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Although I drank a number of Rinaldi wines, I am no expert. The wines are certainly very ripe. I have heard that the older wines have major bottle variation.

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Thank you,for the note,sounds good.Have 3 of each barolo in the cellar,looking forward to taste them. [cheers.gif]

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Yes, this is good. Almost a burgundy style, rather Gevrey with some tannin.
Rinaldi makes tradition and it is fun to experience it.

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Actually I first wrote Burgundian but some Barolo fans do not like such a comparison. [wink.gif]

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Had this friday night next to the 2010 Brunate and while I preferred the latter (better balance, less tannin at least to me) both were outstanding.

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Great note, Kevin. Glad I’ve got some put away.

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As I understand it, to “Pobega” a wine is to take the bottle out of the shipper while the FedEx or UPS man is still holding it, run into the house with it, and pop and pour it. (I am not sure whether one does this before or after signing for the wine, or whether the etiquette of Pobega-ing requires that one offer a glass to the delivery person.) However, popping and pouring in the store, cutting out the overnight courier middleman, goes Pobega-ing one better. Henceforth, should this phenomenon be called “Shin-ing” a wine? Or perhaps the event described above could be called “The Shining”? :slight_smile:

Kevin, fans of old Nebbiolo (which I understand would mean “at least 5 years old” for you, but “over 30 years old” for many of the rest of us) welcome favorable comparisons to Burgundy. Fully mature Burgundy and Nebbiolo can be virtually indistinguishable, rather than merely “like” each other…

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Bill,
My two friends run the store and the distributor didn’t send the samples this year. I enjoy mature wines as much as you do. I also enjoy the wines upon release, a lot of vibrant energy and amazing texture.

I have to disagree that mature burgundy and nebbiolo can be indistinguishable, YMMV of course.

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Then perhaps you need to drink more of both at the same sitting, and in particular, a lot more old Nebbiolo than you have experienced so far. Isn’t your last assertion a bit inconsistent with the Burgundian notes that you seem to find in so many Nebbiolo-based wines? And yes, MMDV from yours. If I wanted to make the investment in some very expensive wine, I am sure that I could stump you tasting blind with ease. There would be hot and cold running Burgundian notes all over the place!

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At Borgogno a few years back, several very old Burgundies were presented blind along with several old vintages of their Riserva. Several Barolo from the 1960s and Burgundy from the 1960s were in fact indistinguishable. The tasters present were 3 itbers (ranging from 27-62 in age) and 5 collectors (ranging from 45 to 70 in age).

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I see no reason to denigrate Barolo by comparing it to Burgundy. But please carry on.

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Bill,
I said Burgundian not Burgundy. I also find Rayas burgundian that doen’t meant that I will confuse them with Burgundy. I am not so sure how much old Barolos that I need to consume to make my opinion valid but I don’t see the point.

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To say that Nebbiolo can sometimes be indistinguishable from Burgundy, Gary, in no way compromises the clear, obvious and total superiority of Barolo and Barbaresco over Burgundy! Although, I must say, as it has developed, the 1990 La Tache has a number of appealing Nebbiolo-like qualities about it. Almost Giacosa-like, really, even if unable to aspire to THAT lofty status…

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Point well made.

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I also think that ripe upper class Barolo and ripe upper class Burgundy can be quite similar.
Especially with NSG and Pommard.
And to add some salt to it - let us not forget the upper class Brunellos, like Soldera…:wink:))

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WATER! WATER! The salt is killing me! :slight_smile:

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Also Cerbaiona and Cerbaiola .Very elegant wine,can be burgundian too.

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NSG and Pommard can be the best candidates to resemble Barolo, I completely agree. If I were to taste them blind, I would focus on tar, iron and licorice to identify the Barolos. That also goes for Brunellos, ie tar and mineral.