Top Barolo 2008 wines: Panel tasting results

The best wines showed a distinct personality, and there were few disappointments in this 63-strong panel tasting. Subscribe to Decanter Premium to read the full report, including tasting notes & scores from our three judges...

• Sixty-three Barolo 2008 wines tasted, with five rated Outstanding by our panel of Stephen Brook, Michael Garner and Susan Hulme MW

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Go straight to the wines: See all 63 tasting notes & scores from this panel tasting

Summary

Somewhere between bashful and truculent in their early years, these 2008 Barolos are now revealing a high standard of complexity and character, says Stephen Brook…

The tasting suggested that the wines from the Barolo 2008 vintage are maturing quite quickly, developing secondary aromas and gaining in weight of fruit.

As Michael Garner put it: ‘They’re reaching that plateau stage where the wines will continue to evolve but more slowly. There is no rush to drink the best wines.’ The word ‘classic’ was used by all the tasters, in contrast to vintages such as 2007 or 2009 which had more opulence and were user-friendly from the outset. The 2008s needed time to shed their initial austerity, but that is true of many great Barolo vintages.

Scroll down to see the top wines from the panel tasting

Garner added: ‘2008 was relatively cool, but it had also had longer hang-time and was picked late. That’s ideal for Nebbiolo, as it helps the grapes acquire aromatic complexity.’

For all the tasters this vintage character was entirely positive, and the tasting itself met their high expectations.

Susan Hulme MW detected a slightly green character in some wines, though it was welcome in both adding complexity and offering a contrast to the more obvious opulence of hotter years. She added: ‘The vintage is clearly underestimated, probably because it’s less voluptuous; what we have are wines that are balanced and harmonious.’

The tasters found excessive tannins in only a handful of wines. Few had been over-extracted and the tannins, while present, were well integrated. The same was true of acidity. Barolo needs both, but the task of winemakers is to keep them in check – by and large they succeeded.

Some earlier assessments of the vintage argued that many wines were too oaky, deforming Barolo’s authentic character. But this was not the panel’s conclusion. A few wines seemed marked by barriques, but not in an exaggerated way.

Garner had no quarrel: ‘You may lose some of the meatiness of Nebbiolo by using barriques, but you can also gain sweeter tannins. You may like or dislike that character, but it seems to me to be an entirely legitimate choice on the part of winemakers.’

Although there were some excellent examples in the riserva category, only one made it into the tasting’s top 10. Overall they showed no evident superiority to the best regular Barolos in this vintage. In some cases the long wood-ageing had tired the wine. Garner observed that few producers are skilled enough to manage very long wood-ageing without losing freshness.

Nor were early suggestions that La Morra had delivered the best wines borne out by the tasting. The tasters did not know the communal origin of the wines but, based on the results, Serralunga, La Morra and Barolo all appear to have performed well. But a more comprehensive tasting may have given different results.

The profusion of high scores confirms that the tasters were greatly impressed by most of the wines. Nebbiolo is notoriously difficult to vinify and age, even in its Barolo heartland, so it was gratifying to find so many excellent wines. They are evolving in different ways: some still rather brawny and reserved, others nearing their peak, others on a plateau on which they are destined to remain for many more years. The best wines showed a distinct personality, and while some were more successful than others, few were bland, overripe, or lacking in character.

This is a vintage that can be bought with confidence, although as always with Barolo, there are variations in style as well as quality. Some wines are opening up, but there is no rush to consume them, and the majority may well improve with further cellaring.

The scores

63 wines tasted

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to Barolo 2008 wines, including riservas

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 5

Highly Recommended 35

Recommended 22

Commended 1

Fair 0

Poor 0

Faulty 0

See all 63 wines from this panel tasting

Our tasters each pick their top three wines from the tasting:

Stephen Brook

Brook has been a contributing editor to Decanter since 1996 and is Regional Chair for Piedmont at the Decanter World Wine Awards. He is a widely published wine writer and educator, and has authored more than 40 books, largely in the fields of wine and travel, for which he has won numerous awards.

Ettore Germano, Cerretta 2008

Serralunga is packed with good producers, and Sergio Germano is among them (terrific Riesling too). This wine dazzled here. Aged in 700-litre barrels, it’s a compromise between traditional and modern styles and none the worse for it. 98 Drink 2019-2031

Marcarini, Brunate 2008

Marcarini’s Baroli from La Morra are first-rate. Unswervingly traditional, given a long fermentation and then at least two years in large casks, often combining floral aromas with an imposing tannic structure. 96 Drink 2018-2029

Silvio Grasso, Ciabot Manzoni 2008

This barrique-aged Barolo from La Morra is a wine that always needs time to become harmonious, and is now achieving its balance. One of six Baroli made by Federico Grasso and his family. 96 Drink 2018-2029

Michael Garner

Garner lives in rural Devon and has worked in the wine business for more than 30 years, specialising in Italian wine for more than 25 of them. He is a regular contributor to Decanter and DWWA Regional co-Chair for Italy. He is author of Amarone and the Fine Wines of Verona and co-author of Barolo: Tar and Roses.

GD Vajra, Bricco delle Viole 2008

The same wine showed wonderfully well at Decanter’s recent Italy Fine Wine Encounter Barolo Masterclass and it didn’t disappoint here. A wine of tremendous balance and style, the combination of freshness and opulence is quite outstanding. 98 Drink 2019-2029

Terre del Barolo, Cannubi 2008

Usually known as the source of bargain basement Barolo, the area’s largest cooperative also produces a range of premium wines. This is an impeccably crafted example which shows off the distinctively aromatic character of Barolo’s most famous vineyard. 98 Drink 2019-2030

Ettore Germano, Cerretta 2008

Sergio Germano’s wines are always worth looking out for and epitomise the rich, powerful style the valley is reputed for. Beginning to drink beautifully and will last. 96 Drink 2019-2031

Susan Hulme MW

Hulme is a wine writer specialising in Italian wines. Since 2016 she has written regularly for Decanter and Decanter.com. Hulme has lived and worked in Italy and regularly travels through its wine regions. She became a Master of Wine in 2005, winning the Madame Bollinger medal for outstanding performance in the tasting exam.

Ettore Germano, Cerretta 2008

Sergio Germano’s favourite Barolo from his portfolio is the quintessence of Serralunga – power and intensity without being heavy, with a shock of electric energy to balance the concentration and depth. 97 Drink 2019-2031

Poderi Aldo Conterno, Cicala 2008

One of the great names who helped to revolutionise the quality and image of modern Barolo. The 2008 Cicala truly reflects some of the cool, green, balsamic qualities of the vintage; edgy, tightly structured but generous and approachable. 93 Drink 2019-2029

Bruna Grimaldi, Badarina 2008

This producer was an exciting discovery for me at the 2018 Nebbiolo Prima. The quality impresses, as does the enthusiasm and commitment of Simone Grimaldi, involved since 2015. One to watch. 92 Drink 2019-2030

About Barolo 2008

If the public perception of the 2008 vintage in Barolo is somewhat blurred, that is probably because the producers’ own experience of the vintage is inconsistent. Local microclimates and the range of exposures and elevations mean that growers can encounter considerable variations.

In a climatically uniform and acclaimed vintage, or conversely in a rainy, rot-infused vintage, all growers will have lived through much the same conditions, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

In 2008 the spring was cool and wet, and outbreaks of mildew and oidium, although treatable, did result in crop reductions. August was characterised by both wind and hail (again localised), but conditions improved in September. Nonetheless some individual vineyards had been damaged by adverse weather and needed to be harvested with care.

One characteristic shared by most wines was that the tannins were firm and the wines would need time to mature. There were undoubtedly problems with other varieties such as Barbera in 2008, but Nebbiolo coped better.

Slow starters

Overall, 2008 was a cooler year, so overripeness and high alcohol were not major issues. However, the pronounced tannins made the wines difficult to appreciate and assess when young: an occasional herbaceousness and rigidity, while characteristic of Barolo in such a year, could give the impression of austerity. The wines are now revealing their full potential, and many of them will offer good value compared to more acclaimed vintages such as 2009 and 2010.

Enrico Rivetto in Serralunga was not that happy with the vintage, but other growers such as Luciano Sandrone and Pio Boffa were more enthusiastic, describing it as classic and pure. Some find a resemblance to 1998, others to 1978. Some consider it relatively accessible, others, such as Pietro Ratti, as more acidic but also more profound. As for communes, La Morra seemed to have fared best, followed by Barolo itself.

Such assessments were made when the wines were young, and one would expect a decade to have smoothed out any rough edges. Diverging assessments may also reflect the success of each estate. A handful decided not to produce any single-vineyard (cru) wines, though these were in the minority.

One consistent thread in appreciations of the vintage is that tannin levels were high, and the management of those tannins proved crucial in the ability of each wine to evolve. This is the right moment to see how they are developing, although the best will surely have a long life ahead of them.

Barolo: the facts

Surface area 2,161ha

Growers 770

Sole permitted grape variety Nebbiolo

Maximum yield 56hl/ha

Minimum alcohol 12.5%

Both regular Barolo and Barolo riserva must spend a minimum of 18 months in wood, and the total ageing period for regular Barolo is 38 months, and 62 months for the riservas.

Barolo: know your recent vintages

2017 Hail in April, sporadic rainfall, and a long, dry summer with heat spikes. Small berries, concentrated wines that may lack perfect balance.

2016 Fine summer weather continued into September, with cool nights giving prolonged hang-time. Potentially superb. Drink 2021-2038

2015 July was hotter than 2003, but it cooled off in late August. Early-drinking vintage, resembling 2007 and 2009. Drink 2019-2030

2014 Early summer was wet with sporadic hail, but sunny days from mid-September. October weather worsened, leading to some variable quality. Drink 2018-2028

2013 Wet spring but good flowering, some mildew in a fairly cool summer. Generous crop, and a wet September gave less rich wines, but the best are perfumed, elegant. Drink 2019-2030

2012 Complicated by hailstorms, heat spikes, and sunburn, but there are some excellent wines. Drink 2018-2025

Top Barolo 2008 wines from the panel tasting:

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