2012 Barolo Brunate
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Barolo Brunate remains bright red in color and is pure and spicy, with notes of licorice, bright cherries, fresh flowers, and toasted spices that lift with precision and clarity. The palate remains youthful and energetic 13 years on, with a snappy structure featuring a vibrant spine of acidity. Its tannins are refined yet still coiled with nervous tension, and it has a long-lasting mineral persistence through the finish. It’s showing very well now, but if bottles have been stored properly in cool cellars, there should be no rush here. Drink 2025-2045. The majority of the wines for this report were tasted with Marta Rinaldi at the estate in Barolo.
Critic scores
Average Score
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Walter Speller
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Barolo Brunate was a bit closed when I tasted it. This wine's ideal drinking window is a long ways away and the bottle needs another decade of cellar aging before it starts to show its best side. The bouquet offers hints of ripe fruit with dark cherry and blackberry at the front. Those fruity tones are followed by mild tobacco, cola and grilled herb. True to the vineyard site, the Barolo Brunate offers a more profound sense of depth and structure at the back. The mouthfeel is robust and generous.
The 2012 Barolo Brunate is powerful and dense in the glass, but also quite expressive for such a young wine. Dark, and brooding, with fabulous mid-palate richness and depth, the 2012 packs a serious punch. Readers will find a Barolo that brings together a slightly slender, cool-climate sense of structure with good early approachability, all of which make the 2012 quite appealing even in its youth. A blast of sweet red cherry, plum, licorice, leather and spices leaves a strong and lasting impression.
The 2012 Barolo Brunate was a bit closed when I tasted it. This wine's ideal drinking window is a long ways away and the bottle needs another decade of cellar aging before it starts to show its best side. The bouquet offers hints of ripe fruit with dark cherry and blackberry at the front. Those fruity tones are followed by mild tobacco, cola and grilled herb. True to the vineyard site, the Barolo Brunate offers a more profound sense of depth and structure at the back. The mouthfeel is robust and generous. || During my tasting at the historic cellars of Giuseppe Rinaldi, I tasted the Barolo Tre Tine and the Barolo Brunate from the 2012 vintage. I also got a sneak peak of the 2013 vintage of those same wines. The 2013 Tre Tine showed great acidity and a classic approach. The 2013 Barolo Brunate offers extra structure and texture at the back. These are wines to look forward to. Jun 16, www.robertparker.com, Drink: 2018-2035
About the producer
Giuseppe Rinaldi is one of the most famous names in Piedmont, revered for producing staunchly traditional, highly collectable Nebbiolo wines.