We had a warm and informative visit to Rinaldi with Carlotta Rinaldi, who is the daughter of current proprietor Beppe. Carlotta works in the vineyards and cellars with her father and older sister. It was great to visit and learn from a family member that is hands on with winemaking. The wines, in particular the Barolos, are top notch. It was nice to get a peak at the 2012s – and though I don’t know much about the vintage broadly, these two examples were quite nice. A highly recommended visit.
2014 Giuseppe Rinaldi Dolcetto d’Alba- Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Dolcetto d’Alba
From the Ravera vineyard. Nose has cherries and fresh cut herbs. Palate has black cherry and almost brooding fruit, which is surprising for a Dolcetto. Juicy with a long, fresh finish. One of the nicer Dolcettos on our Piedmont trip. (87 pts.)
2011 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barbera d’Alba- Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d’Alba
Big nose has black fruit and smoky, spicy notes. Round and quite fresh in the mouth. Light-to-medium bodied from start through to a long, clean finish. (89 pts.)
2012 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Tre Tine- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Nose is lifted with pure cherry fruit, flowers and spice. On the palate – wow, this is loaded with fresh, bright red fruit, earth and floral notes. Big, fresh acid kick on the mid-palate with softer tannin that allows for a long finish. 92-94 (93 pts.)
2012 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Nose is more tight and brooding than the Tre Tine tasted side-by-side. Big but non-delineated aromas of plum, earth and tar. Palate is full and concentrated with brawnier tannin. This is a big and chunky Barolo today that needs time. Love the stuffing and potential. 93-95 (94 pts.)
2014 Giuseppe Rinaldi Rosae- Italy, Piedmont, Vino da Tavola
A very floral nose with exotic spice and fresh fruits. Light-to-medium bodied in the mouth. High acidity and fresh offsets the sweet fruit. Simple and easy drinking.
Craig/Robert – getting an appointment was fairly straight forward. I e-mailed the winery about 30 days in advance and we were able to lock-in a date. Kerin O’Keefe’s recent book is super helpful as it has contact information (including email) for wineries that don’t otherwise have websites and/or published contact info.
Neal – Indeed it was a total pleasure. I’ll try to post all of our visit notes (14 estates in total!) but I was floored with the consistent graciousness and generosity of folks (most often family) that spent 1-2 hours tasting and visiting with us. As for buying wine, a majority of the estates we visited did not offer wines for sale at the cellar door. And in many cases the current vintage (i.e., 2011 Barolo) was already sold out. Rinaldi did not offer nor did we ask to purchase wine at the cellar door.
When we visited Rinaldi in September 13, I think they were out of Barolo even for tasting. They did sell us some freshly bottled Freisa that I love. Other estates, such as Cavallotto, Vajra, G Cortese, Altare, and Cogno had most offerings for sell on the visit at fairly attractive pricing. Local stores had G Rinaldi Barolos, but they were no bargain vs US pricing.
Nick - I hope other more experienced Rinaldi tasters lean in with an answer. For me, the Brunate is the more masculine of their two Barolo and had pronounced tar notes, while the Tre Tine was lighter with more florals. I do think Brunate tends to have that note across producers, but that’s a more academic POV than one from a long history tasting the vineyard.
