Giuseppe Rinaldi, Barbera d Alba 2014

Rinaldis wines have taken their rightful place among the most revered examples of the Langhes old school. His methods are among the most traditional among Barolos truly great producers and his wines are monuments to this approach powerfully structured, hauntingly perfumed, very slow to mature and completely without concession to current fashion. Rinaldi wants Barolo that is austere, severe, that demands research. It takes time. You have to study, to think, to understand, like all of art. It is not simple but complex; it does not please right away. It is the opposite of a mass-produced product. It has angles, not curves. It is not easy. A good Barolo is adapted to long aging. To this end he farms organically, ferments with the indigenous yeasts in his fathers and grandfathers ancient tiny tall upright oak vats without temperature control for a month, punches down by hand and ages in old botti grandi for 3 years. Like Maria-Teresa Mascarello, and her late father Bartolo, Rinaldi is a fierce adherent to the tradition of blending Barolo from different sites. He has old-vine holdings in some of Barolo�s greatest crus, but today he makes no single-cru Barolo.