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.