Vintages Piedmont Flashcards
How are the most recent vintages in Barolo 2022, 2021, 2020?
2022 - heat and DROUGHT - growers needed to adapt to avoid sunburn and balance ripening - lower yields
2021 - rain, frost, and hail cut yields - but quality looks concentrated and promising - CLASSIC
2020 - very warm vintage - earlier harvest, quality seems promising - RIPE
How do 2019 and 2020 compare in Piedmont?
2019 - wet spring, hail in August and September - generally warm growing season - POTENT
2018 - erratic and uneven - SOFT wines, cool start but warm finish
How do the trio of 2017, 2016, and 2015 compare?
2017 - frost, draught, summer heatwave - but nice MIDWEIGHT wines
2016 - Excellent - VIBRANT and tense - from a long, warm and dry season
2015 - Warm vintage - RIPE wines
What are the worst Barolo Vintages of the past few years?
2018 - erratic and uneven - SOFT wines, cool start but warm finish
2014 - Cold, wet and hail - DILUTION
2003 - Torrid with no diurnals for 40 days - skins and seeds, underripe but sugar took off
2002 - Cold, rainy, with devastating hail
What are the worst vintages of the 1990’s?
1995 - HAIL - selection needed, VARIABLE quality (better than the previous years but hasn’t held up over time)
1994 - RAIN just before harvest - SLENDER wines
1992 - COLD and RAINY
1991 - COLD and RAINY
What are the best cool weather vintages for Barolo?
2013 - cool year with mildew selection in spring - late harvest - PERFUMED, fresh
2012 - variable, cold, hail, heat spikes - FRESH, balanced
2010 - One of the all time best - long and cool BALANCE
2008 - Cool year - aromatic and SILKY wines
2004 - Class and FINESSE - excellent quality and yields
What are the best warm, ripe vintages?
2011 - Very hot - VOLUPTUOUS
2009 - Hot year - DENSE, broad wines
2007 - OPULENT - warm and dry with a cooler finish
2006 - BIG and STRUCTURED
2000 - Warm year, open-knit and SUPPLE - warm end to harvest
Medium weight Barolo wines of the 2000’s?
2005 - MIDWEIGHT wines, some hail, some underripe, rain pressure to harvest - tannins evident
2001 - Classic wines, with MEDIUM WEIGHT
What are the best Barolo vintages of the 90’s?
1999 - FIRM wines, classic vintage
1996 - Energy, tension and TANNIC grip good LONGEVITY
1990 - OPULENT
Midweight Barolos of the 90’s?
1998 - warm season - OPEN, fruity wines
1997 - FLAMBOYANT and ripe, maybe not the stuff of aging
1993 - Rain at the end, but some depth and BALANCE
What are the best Barolo vintages of the 1980’s?
1989 - SUBLIME, EXOTIC and PERFUMED
1986 - POWERFUL - hail lowered yields and concentrated the fruit - insider’s vintage
1985 - warm, dry - rich OPEN wines
1982 - POWERFUL and perfumed
What vintages of the 1980’s are losing steam?
1988 - Midweight, losing steam
1987 - LIGHT vintage - mature
What are the best historical vintages for Barolo?
82
79
74
71
70
