BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

In his annual report on northern Italy's Barolo and Barbaresco wines, James Suckling encounters some surprising extremes.

- James Suckling

Piedmont’s most recent vintages for Barolo and Barbaresco, 2019 and 2020 respectively, couldn’t be more different. While the former is tannic

and sometimes austere, the latter is fresh and balanced, with an alluring drinkability and subtle structure. I like to call them “beauty and the beast”.

“The 2019 has grippy tannins,” says Giovanni Gaja of the Gaja winery and son of Angelo Gaja, the famous vintner of the Langhe. “The 2019 expresses Barolo with all those tannins. They’re not polished. There’s an austerity. The acidity is high and it accentuates the tannins. The potential is there, but it will take time to come around.

He adds while tasting the Gaja 2020 Barbarescos, including the Sori Tildin and Sori San Lorenzo, at his offices in the town of Barbaresco: “2020 is textbook nebbiolo. I just love it. I particularly love the vintage. [The year isn’t] only remembered for Covid but these wines as well. It’s an upgraded 2018. It has more structure. It’s a wonderful vintage. You can drink it young, but it will age. It has pleasure and it has structure. The wines are flexible.”

I must admit I was expecting great things from the 2019 vintage, while tasting about 400 Barolos and Barbarescos in mid-June with my colleague Andrii Stetsiuk, particularly after all the hype from some producers and wine merchants about how great and classic the year was. In all, we tasted 626 Barolos and Barbarescos for this report. Of course, I did find a few great and a number of outstanding bottles from 2019, though I remain a little concerned with the slightly mature colours of some wines already and the dry and austere tannins of others. My experience is that tannins like those seldom resolve themselves.