best barolo producers
Vineyards at Enrico Rivetto
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Stephen Brook gives a personal view of the charms and complexities of Piedmont’s terroirs and wines, both traditional and more modern in style...

Top Barolo & Barbaresco producers

During 30 years of visiting the Barolo area, I’ve witnessed the shift from old-school wines to more modern styles.

My early headquarters was a hotel in Monforte – essentially a bar with rooms – and in the morning I’d grab an espresso and find the likes of Domenico Clerico doing the same. He and others were then the young guns of Barolo, and today they’re the elder statesmen.

Even after three decades I feel I’m just scratching the surface here: there are too many crus and producers to get to know. If you think Burgundy is complicated, try mastering the hills and slopes of Barolo. In compiling this list of producers, I don’t pretend they are necessarily the top wineries.

Instead, this is a blend of outstanding producers and personal favourites. Call it a sentimental list if you wish, but sentiment and friendship play their part in fashioning our palates.

Wine is more than a glass on a tasting bench. In any event you won’t find any mediocre wines emanating from the cellars cited on the pages that follow.

I don’t have a stylistic bias, and believe the distinction between traditional and modernist is increasingly artificial. So Elio Altare and Angelo Gaja can be cited alongside Bartolo Mascarello and Giuseppe Rinaldi, even though they represent opposing schools stylistically.

Indeed many top producers, such as Scavino, raid both schools to fashion their own wines in a harmonious but individual style.

Nor am I fiercely opposed to the use of new oak, so long as it’s not the wine’s dominant component. In any case, ludicrously overoaked wines are becoming scarce. What I seek in a fine Barolo or Barbaresco is finesse, which is notoriously difficult to achieve with a grape variety exuding acidity, tannin and alcohol.

Tenuta San Leonardo

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Tenuta San Leonardo profile and wine ratings

Discover a Trentino trailblazer and see wines spanning three decades...

Bartolo Mascarello

Bartolo Mascarello
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Producer profile: Bartolo Mascarello

In terms of Nebbiolo, the late Bartolo Mascarello only did one thing...

Bruno Giacosa

Bruno Giacosa's commitment to single vineyard sites proved a revelation in Piedmont.
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Producer profile: Bruno Giacosa

The range of wines is extensive here...

Elio Altare

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Producer profile: Elio Altare

An advantage to Altare's wines is that they were accessible younger...

Enrico Rivetto

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Producer profile: Enrico Rivetto

Rivetto is typical of a new generation of enthusiastic and inquisitive growers...

GD Vajra

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Producer profile: GD Vajra

Giacomo Conterno

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Producer profile: Giacomo Conterno

Giovanni Conterno was an arch-traditionalist...

Giorgio pelissero

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Producer profile: Giorgio Pelissero

Pelissero is an unashamed modernist...

Massolino

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Producer profile: Massolino

Serralunga is home to some first-rate local winemakers, including Massolino...

paolo scavino sorting grapes

Paolo Scavino sorting Nebbiolo grapes
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Producer profile: Paolo Scavino

Enrico Scavino's wine career began at just 11 years old...

Produttori del Barbaresco

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Producer Profile: Produttori del Barbaresco

Each wine is made in the same way...

Stephen Brook
Stephen Brook

Stephen Brook has been a contributing editor to Decanter since 1996 and has won a clutch of awards for his writing on wine. The author of more than 30 books, his works include Complete Bordeaux, now the definitive study of the region and in its third edition, and The Wines of California, which won three awards. His most recently published book is The Wines of Austria. Brook also fully revised the last two editions of Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion, and he writes for magazines in many countries.