Given Barolo’s minimum aging requirements, we only started seeing the 2013s in the US market recently. This is an acclaimed vintage marked by finesse and aromatic complexity, and as SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch asserts, we should all be making space in our cellars for these outstanding reds.
Consider today’s offer the tip of the iceberg: Between the 2013 Barolos and the 2014 Barbarescos, both of which are now in full circulation in the US, we have a lot of exciting, collectible red wine to share with you this year. There are many accolades to lavish on this 2013 Barolo from Giovanni Rosso, but what I would emphasize above all else is how profoundly undervalued it is. Yes, my Italian partisanship is showing, but, aside from the established legends (Gaja, Giacosa, Conterno), Barolo pricing in general is still well below where it could/should be given the importance of the region’s wines. When I think about what people are willing to spend on reds that couldn’t shine this one’s shoes, I wince. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t call so much attention to it, because I want to continue being able to afford great Barolo (and Barbaresco). But I can’t help it: Complex, powerful, place-expressive red wine that will age 20 years, for less than $50, is a gift. There’s no other way to say it. Take one sip of Rosso’s ’13 and I’m certain you’ll agree.
And while the Giovanni Rosso label is a relatively new one among the firmly entrenched brands of Barolo, the family is part of the old guard; the Rossos have farmed vineyards in and around the village of Serralunga since the 1890s, and had long sold fruit to other producers before Giovanni Rosso and his son, Davide, started bottling their own wines in the late-1990s. Theirs is a familiar story in modern-day Barolo, and Davide, who apprenticed in Burgundy with producers such as Jean Grivot and Denis Mortet, took over the winemaking operation in 2001, when he was just 27 years old. Davide enjoyed a number of years working side-by-side with his father until Giovanni passed away in 2009; these days, the younger Rosso occupies himself not just with his patrimony in Piedmont but with a new wine project on Mount Etna in Sicily. Davide’s farming practices might best be compared with the French ‘lutte raisonnée’ (reasoned fight) approach: it is effectively organic except in rare emergencies.
Although the Rosso vineyard holdings, totaling about 12 hectares, are concentrated in Serralunga d’Alba—including pieces of famous crus such as “Vigna Rionda” and “Cerretta”—today’s Barolo is sourced not just from Serralunga but Castiglione Falletto and Barolo as well. It is fermented in concrete vats and aged in 50-hectoliter French oak barrels for a minimum of 18 months before bottling, after which it is rested in bottle for a similar period before being released into the market.
And while the Rosso wines loudly proclaim their Serralunga origins—this being one of the villages known for darker, denser, more hard-backed styles of Barolo—this 2013 shows how power and finesse can coexist. In the glass, it’s a textbook garnet red flecked with both ruby and a hint of orange at the rim, with aromas of red and black cherry, mulberry, dried violets and rose petals, graphite, baking spices, licorice, leather, and assorted wild herbs. Nearly full-bodied, with firm but not overly sharp tannins, it has a pronounced mineral depth that drives a long-lasting finish. It is obviously a serious glass of wine, heady and memorable and unfolding over time in the glass. Decant it about 45 minutes before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees, preferably alongside something regionally appropriate—the classic meat-filled pasta called agnolotti is the ultimate Barolo companion, but you have to be an accomplished fresh pasta-maker to pull that off; should you not opt for that degree of difficulty, I’d suggest the attached braise over polenta, also authentically Piedmont but way easier to execute. Save your energy and focus for the wine, which only gets better with time in the glass.
Salute! — David Lynch
