2018 Giuseppe Rinaldi Dolcetto d'Alba

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  9/9/2023 - Barolo Freak Does not like this wine: 85 Points

  My first time tasting a Giuseppe Rinaldi wine, and I'm disappointed. I pulled the cork and I allowed it to breathe for many hours. I sipped my Dolcetto over three evening and there was no improvement. I don't normally spend $50 for a Dolcetto wine, $20 is my usual. Thanks, but no thanks.

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  5/3/2023 - SurfBurg wrote: 92 Points

  Wow is all I can say. My first Rinaldi, but certainly won't be my last. Certainly had that Burgundy-esque profile, but with more earth. Hard to accurately describe it since it came at the end of the night, but I want more! Magical with Carbonara. 93
  
  Two months later, another bottle -- still had the scintillating complex aromatics and the forest floor palate, but missing a little structure, especially after 15 minutes. Changed 3 times within 1 hour, from nicely structured to more earthly to a little plummy, but the one constant was the fantastic nose. Initially worked well with Ossobuco but faded. Maybe Dolcetto never stood a chance with that dish? Reduced the score to 91, so averaged out to 92.

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  12/10/2022 - Tudz Drkl wrote:

  Light opacity, ruby with purple highlights. Raspberry savory fruity nose with some notes of soap. Slow entry with raspberry rising significantly along the profile. Clean balanced and delicious.

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  12/7/2022 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:

  My favourite Piedmont artisan, beautiful intoxicating bouquets of cranberries, cherries, black licorice, plum, damp earth, the palate does not disappoint either, medium bodied, traditional, serious depth, drinking beautifully now but should get better

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  10/22/2022 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  100% Dolcetto, fully destemmed, fermented spontaneously in open-top oak vats, aged in large oak botti. 13,5% alcohol.
  
  Luminous, youthful and moderately translucent garnet color with a pale red rim. The rather solar nose feels ripe, rich and sweet-toned with aromas of dark berries and fresh bilberries, some cool herby tones, a little bit of leathery funk, light floral nuances of violets, a hint of juicy raspberry and a touch of strawberry. The wine feels ripe, fine-tuned and velvety in texture with a moderately full body and sweetly-fruited flavors of soft dark plums and juicy black cherries, some strawberry tones, a little bit of bretty leather, light blueberry tones and a floral hint of violets. The wine is a bit on the soft side for a Dolcetto, but it still retains good sense of firmness and balance thanks to its moderately high acidity and tannins that are quite ample but also very ripe and quite gentle. The finish is rich, juicy and gently grippy with a long and sunny aftertaste of black cherries and succulent dark plums, some strawberry notes, light leathery notes of brett, a little bit of perfumed floral character and a hint of fresh blueberry.
  
  A very ripe and quite gentle vintage of Dolcetto that manages to retain enough balance and firmness not to appear too soft and flabby. True to the Rinaldi style, the overall feel is wonderfully fine-tuned and perfumed, yet having that hallmark subtle bretty funk lingering in the background. This is a quite successful effort for a 2018 Dolcetto and I did enjoy the wine quite a bit, but I still think both the Mascarellos succeeded better in this challenging, hot and sunny vintage. Furthermore, as we tasted the wonderfully serious 2016 vintage of Rinaldi's Dolcetto after this, it became quite obvious how ripe and soft this wine really was compared to the normal Rinaldi style. All in all, while a fine wine that can still age and improve for a good number of years more, this still isn't really a textbook example of Rinaldi Dolcetto. At 28€, this isn't particularly affordable for a Dolcetto, but it still manages to deliver for the price.

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