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2012 Barolo peek

Chicago, IL

Tasted May 8, 2017 by acyso with 695 views

Introduction

The 2012 Barolos for this dinner were chosen to represent the various communes and were all double decanted the morning of the dinner.

Flight 1 (13 notes)

White - Sparkling
N.V. Champagne Suenen Champagne Grand Cru C + C Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
93 points
2013 base, disgorged 5/26/2016, 2 g/L dosage. Crispy. That was my first impression of this wine. The acidity here is so snappy, and there's just a slight touch of oxidation here that adds a lot of complexity. It's not overbearing, so the freshness of the chardonnay shows very clearly. Mineral and light, with just a bit of sweet yellow fruit.
White
2013 Cavallotto Chardonnay Langhe Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
90 points
While it's very clear that this isn't white Burgundy or California, it's also quite clear that this is still chardonnay. There's a slight touch of butter on the nose and palate, and a hint of nuttiness as well. The palate shows very true to chardonnay too with a good streak of acidity and some riper yellow fruit.
Red
2012 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
95 points
My wine of the night. This has an almost Jamet-like nose with its green olives, while being coupled with some tart red fruit. The palate is definitely not syrah, but it does display as a stylized nebbiolo in that it is extremely light, with a distinct perfumed character, as well as relatively high degree of red-toned fruit and acids. Very much to my taste.
6 people found this helpful Comments (5)
Red
2012 Rocche Costamagna Barolo Rocche Dell'Annunziata Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
88 points
A reasonably good bottle of Barolo, if a bit uninteresting. This showed much denser, with a more dark-fruited character. One of the larger-scaled wines tonight, with a slightly heavier palate presence, but mostly a foursquare wine that ticks all the boxes without doing much more.
Red
2012 Marcarini Barolo Brunate Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
93 points
I don't know if this is imagined or not, but I always seem to pick up a little bit of funky earth on these wines. In any case, I did find some of it here too. But this was a wine firing on all cylinders tonight. This had a lovely red-fruited perfume (though missing those high-toned elements from the Burlotto) coupled with the earthy notes. The palate was broad and open, with lovely red fruit.
1 person found this helpful Comments (1)
Red
2012 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
88 points
I really loved the nose on this, with its layers of black fruit -- cherries, plums, and more. The palate left a lot to be desired though, as it mostly seemed to be a bit angular and disjointed. A bit of tar, cough syrup, and other herbal elements, which normally wouldn't bother me, but the acid just stuck out way too much here, to the detriment of everything else. One can hope that this will integrate?
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2012 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Cannubi Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
88 points
This wasn't a great showing for this wine -- lots of red fruit, but also some cough syrup and herbal medicine qualities that made this seem a bit bitter. The acid here juts out again somewhat unpleasantly, and the wine feels a little bit thin for it. This could have used some more heft too.
Red
2012 Fratelli Brovia Barolo Rocche di Castiglione Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
90 points
Others at the table liked the two Brovia much more than I did. I found them good, but not great wines. This bottle had a nice touch of spice and herbal elements on the nose, and while the fruit veered towards a blacker character, there was still a very nice driving force of acidity balanced with some earth. The tannins on the palate felt a little unripe to me, which was one of my objections here, but all in all, this is still a very nice package.
2 people found this helpful Comment
Red
2012 Fratelli Brovia Barolo Villero Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
88 points
I thought I liked this a bit more than the Rocche di Castiglione at first, but the latter grew bigger with air, while this seemed to get a little more disjointed. Bright red fruit and very herbal, this was much lighter than its sibling at the table. Again there's that character of slightly unripe tannin, as well as that angular acidity that I just didn't enjoy. The finish had a distinct mint tone as well.
Red
2012 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
80 points
What the hell happened here? Toasted coconut on the nose and on the palate. There's actually some nice elements here in the full-bodied fruit and the nice balance between acid and everything else, but did we really have to go slathering coconut all over it? Especially disappointing since I had very high expectations for this wine.
Red
2012 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
83 points
Perhaps I found this more tolerable because of the previous disaster with the Colonnello, but this was slathered with high-priced charred oak. Granted, there were some nice black fruit elements here, but mostly it was all obscured by the char. Still, this was better than the toasted-coconut disaster that was the Aldo Conterno (though not by much).
Red
2012 Germano Ettore Barolo Prapò Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
93 points
This was probably my second favourite wine of the night -- it hit many of the things I love about young nebbiolo. Light and elegant, with a brilliant floral element on the nose, while the palate showed good fruit density, acidity that was in tune with the rest of the red-fruited palate, and tannins that weren't too chewy.
Red
2012 Massolino Barolo Parafada Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
93 points
This was another of the larger-scaled wines on the table tonight. A touch of coffee and brown spice on the nose, coupled with some fruit on the black end of the spectrum. The fruit on the palate was very nicely layered, and this had a bit of a darker complexion, though there was plenty of acidity to boost the brightness. The tannins here were velvety, but not obtrusive at all.

Closing

In all, based on the tasting tonight, I would say that the 2012 vintage was the mathematical average of the 2011 and 2013 vintages. On a more serious note, they are relatively easy-going wines, high in acid, and relatively low-octane. Will they ever attain greatness? Probably not. But they're fine drinks now, even if I wouldn't be willing to age these for too long.

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