TN: Canonica Barolo Vertical

WINE TALK
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CANONICA BAROLO - Hearth Restaurant, NYC (9/17/2025)

A group of Neb Heads (most of them from the Nebbiolo group formed through the Vinous forum) met to check out the wines of Giovanni Canonica.

Photos and more details can be found on my website.

2015, 2016 Grinzane Cavour

  • 2015 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Grinzane Cavour - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 8am.] Lovely perfume of roses and tar and red fruit. Fine and delicate. Long and complex. Just a beautiful wine to drink tonight. (93 points)
  • 2016 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Grinzane Cavour - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted around 8am.] More black fruit with the same tar and roses as the 15. Richer, darker more black fruit and structure in the mouth typical of 2016 vs 2015. Has a way to go to reach its peak, but enjoyable now. 94-96 (94 points)

2006, 2008, 2010 Paiagallo

  • 2006 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted at 1pm.] Nose is pure green. Delicate, light, sour. Not drinkable. (NR/flawed)
  • 2008 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for a half hour around 8am.] Muted nose of black fruit. Backward black fruit is giving nothing. Some say it's mildly corked or oxidized. Hard to believe this is the 2008 at its best. (NR/flawed)
  • 2010 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for a half hour around 8am.] Gorgeous nose of black fruit and licorice. Rich juicy super long finish of complex black fruit and spice. 95-97 My WOTN. (95 points)

2012, 2014, 2015 Paiagallo

  • 2012 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for three hours around 3pm.] Gorgeous nose of flowers and red fruit. Open and ready. Long, rich, impressive. A terrific 2012. (94 points)
  • 2014 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for three hours around 3pm.] Black fruit and roses. Tart, medium length. The least of the non-defective wines tonight. (88 points)
  • 2015 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for three hours around 3pm.] Muted nose of ripe red fruit. Stunning in the mouth with lots of ripe fruit and a long finish. Expansive and a joy to drink tonight. Less delicate than than the 2015 Grinzane Cavour, but similar in its openness and pleasure tonight. My #2 WOTN. (95 points)

2017, 2019 Paiagallo

  • 2017 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double-decanted for three hours around 3pm.] Slightly sour fred fruit nose. Tart and thin in the mouth. Hard to know what to think of this. I'm going to assume a flawed bottle. (NR/flawed)
  • 2019 Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Opened about 6pm. Tasted around 8:30pm.] Overwhelming acetone in the nose and mouth. Sad. This vintage should be great. (NR/flawed)

A real mixed bag. When these wines are good, they are really good, but we had just too many flawed bottles. Four out of ten defective is not good.

As Iggy said, "The extreme bottle variation, which is endemic with this producer, was much more tolerable when I was buying the wines for $65 to $70 per bottle,... [but] when the price hit the $200 range, I bowed out, even though I do enjoy the wines when they are on. But if only half of the bottles are good, you are effectively paying $400 per good bottle, which is too much."

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks Ken,

Have to agree. Pretty maddening inconsistency here. Lots of VA some years, odd prickly acid and hollow mid-palate in others, then you hit a beautiful one and you (almost) forget the bad ones. I’m glad the '15 showed well. In botte, it was hot, candied and not really focused. I’ve not opened any of my bottles of it yet, so there’s some hope.

I also stopped buying with the price increase. Sad because he is a delightful person, and I think Iggy’s point is spot on. At '08 release prices it was easy to forgive. Not so much now.

Hope life is treating you well. looking forward to February.

Best,

T

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The number of bad bottles is striking. What is the provenance of the bottles? I have purchased a decent amount of aged Barolo off auction (usually 2004 to 2013) and I have had an equal hit and miss rate. Lots of bad bottles that were oxidized or had a stewed and sour taste.

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I believe all bottles were purchased on release from good sources, except the 2012 Paiagallo was sourced from Winebid, but showed really well.

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I spent some time in Italy a couple weeks back. We visited 9 properties from Tuscany to Apuglia. I couldn’t count how many times Canonica wines came up in conversation from winemakers to industry folks. I was asked if Canonica is getting the recognition in the states that it should. Seems like the Canonica barolos are your favorite winemakers favorite barolos. I jokingly replied, “mezza mezza”. They were shocked.

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My friends and I love Canonica but we never talked about it much outside our circle. I remember Sunfish Cellars in MN was getting the lion’s share of what was being allocated to the US.

I picked up as much as I could but stopped when it jumped past $100 (to like $150) and the cat was finally out of the bag.

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