Barolo Riserva 2013: ‘Some first-rate wines’

Barolo Riserva 2013

A cool spring with disease pressure was followed by a warm finish to the growing season with grapes ripening slowly, producing lean but nuanced wines in general with some first-rate examples.

4/5

The problem with 2013 was disease, or at least the constant threat of disease.

A cool spring and a rainy May forced growers to intervene to prevent the spread of maladies. The early summer was fine but the weather had resulted in large clusters, so growers had to thin bunches and also remove leaves to speed up maturation, which had been retarded by the poor spring.

Chiara Boschis of E Pira & Figli insisted that disease was easy manageable for those who de-leafed early and paid close attention to their vines.

Quick link: See all of Stephen’s Barolo Riserva 2013 tasting notes & scores

The weather warmed up in September, with hot days and cool nights that were perfect for the balance of the fruit. There was no rush to harvest.

2013 was never going to be a crowd-pleasing vintage. The wines are perfumed rather than opulent, the structures lean and nuanced rather than full and weighty, yet many excellent Barolos were made in this vintage. Gaia Gaja remarked that ‘the grapes ripened slowly, and the wines are evolving slowly.’ So it comes as no surprise that there were many impressive Riservas produced in 2013.

Relevance

But tasting through them recently did make me wonder what purpose the category serves – a Barolo simply needs longer ageing, especially in bottle, to qualify as a Riserva. It’s reasonable to assume that they should be made only from the best sites and after selecting the best parcels or bunches, but that is not a legal requirement and it would be impossible to verify.

Many top properties never produce Riservas, probably on the grounds that they always seek to make the best, most balanced wines they can anyway.

There’s also the question of extremely long cask-ageing, which can, and does, result in wines that are excessively savoury and tannic, lacking in sheer fruitiness. Moreover, few modern consumers want to cellar Riservas for a decade or two before they become truly enjoyable – or, disappointingly, fail to do so.

Nonetheless, there are some first-rate wines here and those looking to buy some Barolo 2013 Riservas have a number of good options to choose from.

Stephen’s Barolo Riserva 2013 top picks:

See all of Stephen’s Barolo Riserva 2013 tasting notes & scores

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