2020 Barolo Brunate
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Tasting notes
La Morra. Just mid ruby. Layered and perfumed but still a little brooding. Complex, compact red fruit still curled up and with super-fine, clinging, long tannins. Real pedigree but still too young. (WS)
Critic scores
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The Oddero 2020 Barolo Brunate definitely shows the austerity and power of this celebrated MGA site in La Morra. There's a strong mineral element with ferrous earth or rusty nail. The fruit is dark and spicy with baked currant or spiced plum. This is a solid and compact Barolo with a big, fleshy style. Its tannic firmness and freshness give it runway to age. A mere 1,700 bottles were produced.
Impressive, serious and savory with notes of forest berries, dried herbs and warm spices with a touch of Grand Marnier as well. Medium to full body with firm tannins. Bright with a verticality at the center, built around crisp acidity and crunchy red currants. Yet it is plain with volume at the edges and a chewiness towards the long finish. Try after 2030.
The 2020 Barolo Brunate is the most potent and inward of the 2020 Barolos in this tasting. Dark fruit, menthol, licorice, spice, cedar and pipe tobacco struggle to emerge. Brunate is the smallest production Barolo at Oddero and is therefore aged in a smaller cask—this feels a bit constricted by the wood influence.