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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.7 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 29 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by jusdavi on 4/22/2024 & rated 94 points: Drinking so well. Highly recommend. (602 views) | | | Tasted by uve on 2/24/2024 & rated 92 points: Textbook fine barolo. Even with its bottle age and after a 3-hour decant. It started off very tight. It did open up over time to show grilled herbs alongside the classic tar and roses. The last glass was the best. Feels like it’s holding back some of its secrets, and I expect there’s some upside from here. (883 views) | | | Tasted by Es7e2003 on 7/16/2023 & rated 92 points: Black cherry, tar, camphor. Medium plus acidity and high tannins. Opened up very nicely over time. Long finish. Enjoyable now. Hold 2-3 years minimum. (2185 views) | | | Tasted by jkbeech on 1/26/2023: Not scoring as this wine was very shut down despite a three-hour decant and did not improve on day two. Beautiful floral nose but simply nothing doing on the palate. Purchased at auction last year in light of other reviews, I suspect this might be a victim of poor storage. I will hold my remaining bottles for another year at least before trying again. (2445 views) | | | Tasted by Danger dynamix on 12/9/2022 & rated 92 points: Great showing.. have had some nice 12’s and This is up there for it pure drinkability and clarity
Rose , tar , pine , cherry, earth and good acidity
Went down quickly and was appreciated by all (2223 views) | | | Tasted by NebHeadLA on 11/30/2022 & rated 96 points: Spectacular wine in an excellent phase. Shockingly delicious for an off vintage. (2354 views) | | | Tasted by Dankin on 8/20/2022 & rated 92 points: Still young. Will try my next bottle in 3-5 years. Hope ii will open up more. At the Moment it feels a bit warm. (2558 views) | | | Tasted by jkvedar on 8/10/2022 & rated 92 points: Echoing previous comments (2337 views) | | | Tasted by jkvedar on 5/17/2022 & rated 92 points: Decanted for 3 hours. Paired with a spicy, meat-based pasta sauce, tortellini and ravioli, + salad. Amazing how much better this is with food than alone. Lifted, floral, pretty on the nose. There are some classic markers (rose petal/tar). Light to modium bodied on the palate. Medium + acidity and medium + tannins. Characteristically long finish of traditional Barolo. (2096 views) | | | Tasted by ubercuvee on 10/7/2021 & rated 90 points: How much 2012 Barolo is too much 2012 Barolo (Noize): The Gavarini and Casa Mate were quite different. I thought the Casa Mate showed quite a bit better. Both are big wines with quite a ot of extraction that will probably do with a long rest in your cellar. (2799 views) | | | Tasted by amateur62 on 9/14/2021 & rated 92 points: La Salita, Monforte d'Alba. PnP. On the nose warm (not hot) appearance, earthy notes with underlying freshness (moss) and dark berries, on the palate for its age surprisingly smooth tannin, medium to full bodied, medium+ acidity, long finish. Ready for business, drink until 2030. Good match with the fantastic beef we had. (2228 views) | | | Tasted by AndersHed on 3/31/2021 & rated 95 points: Fantastic wine. Very good now but will improve. (2692 views) | | | Tasted by Dionysos 1920 on 2/26/2021 & rated 94 points: Belle couleur sombre, nez beurré, épicé, floral, légèrement fumé, agrumes, encore très tannique, bois présent mais un peu dur, beau fruit, belle matière, un très beau vin qu’il faut absolument cacher quelques années (3128 views) | | | Tasted by VettersVinos on 1/29/2021 & rated 90 points: Light bodied and promising but very shut down right now. I would wait on future bottles (2556 views) | | | Tasted by fred o. on 8/1/2019: Violet ruby with some translucence. Nose earthy, tar, black cherry, floral. Palate still a bit tight, earthy red fruits, a bit light at this juncture. Tannic. Iron/strong minerality.
Young, needs a couple more years at least to open up more I think, or would decant if I opened now. 90 pts with upside. (3851 views) | | | Tasted by mikeaukenbals on 1/25/2019 & rated 90 points: Probably stored poorly at retailer (4871 views) | | | Tasted by RyanJames on 11/11/2018 & rated 93 points: A terrific Barolo. Tons of complex dark fruit, soil, tar, a very dark masculine expression of Barolo with tons of structure, complexity and loads of flavor, all in a well-balanced package. Makes me think the '12 vintage is underrated. Absolutely way too young now, as the tannins are very gripping - give this another 5 years and likely won't be at peak for another 10-15. (4165 views) | | | Tasted by eoinhharkins on 2/15/2018 & rated 94 points: Young but dam this was so good! Dark rose petals, dark cherry, minerals and subtle spice on the nose, equally generous palate with medium plus acidity there’s a serious tannic grip though that needs about a decade to integrate or soften (5154 views) | | | Tasted by broadband013 on 11/10/2016 & rated 90 points: Dégustation Grandchateaux, 09.11.2016
astingeant et tannique, beaucoup trop jeune! 89-90 (6829 views) | | | Tasted by rossi.wine on 11/9/2016 & rated 95 points: Tasted next to 2012 Casa Maté. Less brooding, more floral and softer somehow on the nose. Equally tannic and grippy on the palate. Great minerality. Fresh and full of energy. Stunning length. Needs time. 94-95+ (5689 views) | | | Tasted by startinoz on 9/12/2016 & rated 93 points: 93-94. Chocolate, orange peel, spice. Medium body. (5052 views) | | | Tasted by NostraBacchus on 9/10/2016 & rated 95 points: First night extremely closed but retasted on day 3. Nice and complex notes of sweet fruit, amazing texture, freshness and structure. Love it! Keep this buried in the cellar. (5419 views) | | | Tasted by NostraBacchus on 3/25/2016 & rated 95 points: Tasted at the winery. A step up from the 2011 and a more classic, lifted and cooler expression of the Gavarini Chiniera. Perfumed notes of crushed flowers, some tar, red current and dark red cherries and some sweet spuces. It's medium-full bodied, dense but weightless at the same time, with medium-high tannin and pretty high acidity. Excellent length. This will require a few years of patience... Drink the 2011 while waiting for the more classic vintages. (5020 views) | | | Tasted by JulianSkeels on 3/21/2016 & rated 94 points: Lovely rich nose of rose and tar. Medium acidity and very open at the moment (but expect it to close in 6 months for a few years - it currently closes in glass after 30mins). Looks much better than 2011 but behind the 2015 (look out for that!). Don't open bottles until 2025. The Grasso 2012 are really great wines - although I clearly prefer the Casa Mate in this vintage. Also look out for the 2010 Runcot due out this year, an amazing wine. (2976 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2013 Barolo: Sublime Finesse & Elegance (Feb 2017) (2/1/2017)
(Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (3/10/2016)
(Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera, Italy) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2012 Barolo: Grace Under Pressure (Mar 2016) (3/1/2016)
(Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and JamesSuckling.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Elio Grasso Producer website
Elio Grasso had a choice. He could make powerful, unyielding wines from his beautiful estate in the hills behind Monforte, or he could emphasize balance and harmony. He chose the latter, and he meets these aims through rigid attention to the vineyards. Grasso and his family offer three single-vineyard Barolos, purer and more complex today than ever. The Vigna Chiniera and the Case Maté are made in a more traditional style while the powerful Runcot is aged for 30 months in all new barriques. Also look for their Nebbiolo from the Langhe and the Dolcetto d'Alba.
From MartinScottWines.com:
The estate vineyards and cellar, located outside the town of Monforte d’Alba, are surrounded by improbably steep vineyards on the eastern side of the Barolo appellation. The winery uses only estate grown grapes from varieties traditionally grown in the Langhe hill country near Alba. Elio works mostly in the vineyards, leaving the cellar work to his son Gianluca and wine consultant, Piero Ballario. Grasso farms Nebbiolo for the Barolo from 3 vineyards in Monforte – Ginestra Vigna Casa Mate, Gavarini Vigna Chiniera and Runcot, all with their own unique qualities. These south facing vineyards are planted on relatively loose-packed calcareous soil at elevations between 918-1,312 feet. All the grapes are vinified separately, according to the vineyard of provenance. The cellar displays an assortment of stainless steel tanks, where all the grapes are fermented, with the exception of Chardonnay, as well as 25 hectoliter Slavonian oak barrels and small 225 liter casks of French oak.Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini ChinieraFirst vintage: 1978
Aspect and height above sea level: south-facing, 350-400 metres
Soil type: moderately loose-packed, slightly sandy, limestone-based
Vine training system and planting density: Guyot-trained at 4,500 vines per hectare
Average age of productive vines: around 35 years
Harvest period and method: second 10 days of October, manual harvest
The vinification procedure for Barolo Gavarini Chiniera involves alcoholic fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, with daily pumping over. After completing malolactic fermentation, the wine matures in 25-hectolitre barrels of Slavonian oak. Bottling normally takes place in August. The Barolo Gavarini Chiniera then stays in the binning cellar for 8-10 months before release.NebbioloNebbiolo is a red grape indigenous to the Piedmont region of Italy in the Northwest. The grape can also be found in other parts of the world, though they are not as respected.
Nebbiolo is often considered the "king of red wines," as it is the grape of the famed wines of Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, and Roero DOCG. It is known for high tannins and acidity, but with a distinct finesse. When grown on clay, Nebbiolo can be very powerful, tannic, and require long aging periods to reach its full potential. When grown on sand, the grape exhibits a more approachable body with more elegant fruit and less tannins, but still has high aging potential.
"Nebbiolo" is named for the Italian word, "nebbia", which means "fog", in Italian and rightfully so since there is generally a lot of fog in the foothills of Piedmont during harvest.
Nebbiolo is a late-ripening variety that does best in a continental climate that boasts moderate summers and long autumns. In Piedmont, Nebbiolo is normally harvested in October.
More links:
Varietal character (Appellation America) | Nebbiolo on CellarTrackerItaly Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorPiedmont Vignaioli Piemontesi (Italian only)
On weinlagen-infoLanghe Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero | Union of Producers of Albese Wines (Albeisa)BaroloRegional History:
The wines of Piedmont are noted as far back as Pliny's Natural History. Due to geographic and political isolation, Piedmont was without a natural port for most of its history, which made exportation treacherous and expensive. This left the Piedmontese with little incentive to expand production. Sixteenth-century records show a mere 14% of the Bassa Langa under vine -- most of that low-lying and farmed polyculturally. In the nineteenth century the Marchesa Falletti, a frenchwoman by birth, brought eonologist Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wines in Piemonte. Along with work in experimental vineyards at Castello Grinzane conducted by Camilo Cavour -- later Conte di Cavour, leader of the Risorgimento and first Prime Minister of Italy -- this was the birth of modern wine in the Piedmont. At the heart of the region and her reputation are Alba and the Langhe Hills. This series of weathered outcroppings south of the Tanaro River is of maritime origin and composed mainly of limestone, sand and clay, known as terra bianca. In these soils -located mainly around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco -- the ancient allobrogica, now Nebbiolo, achieves its renowned fineness and power.
map of Barolo DOCG
An interesting thread on Traditional vs. Modern Barolo producers:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=106291 |
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