Vino Travels ~ An Italian Wine Blog: Ending the Year with Barolo and a Revisit to Fratelli Revello

As we start to close in on 2021 with the holiday quickly approaching there is no better time to reward yourself and indulge. Sometimes I need a little push to open bottles I have brought back from Italy from years of travel there because each individual bottle holds special memories for me. This month our Italian Food, Wine and travel group (#ItalianFWT) is featuring the final series of Italy’s great B’s, Brunello, Barbaresco and now Barolo.

What is Barolo & Nebbiolo?

When it comes to Italian wines, Barolo is one of the greats. Many have at least heard of Barolo, if not having had the luxury of trying some in your lifetime. Barolo is grown in the Piedmont wine region in northeastern Italy. It’s situated in the Langhe appellation just southwest of the town of Alba. The Barolo wines produced there hail from 11 communes and follow strict regulations as many of the other DOCG wines throughout Italy. It must be made from 100% Nebbiolo grape with a minimum aging required of 3 years with at least 2 years aged in wood. These wines are not for the lighter palate. They are deep and complex and show high tannins along with high alcohol. The wines display perfumed aromas and a profile consisting of earthiness, roses, tar, cedar, dried cherries and tar.

The Nebbiolo grape doesn’t hold much color so these wines aren’t as dark and deep as one would expect from the wines exude on the palate. They are big and bold, but not jammy. These are late harvested grapes in the vineyards.

Vineyards in Barolo Piedmont with Fratelli Revello

If I’m going to drink Barolo I tend to bring them out once the cold, winter weather months appear. They lend well to rich cuisines as the Piedmontese cuisine can be including risotto, truffles and game meats. I only pulled a small sample from the bottle with my Coravin as I’m planning to open the bottle with my parents over the holiday since I visited the winery I’m sharing today, Fratelli Revello, with them back in 2009.

The Winery ~ Fratelli Revello

I’ve featured my visit on Fratelli Revello some years back, but had been sitting on the 2005 Fratelli Revello Barolo I brought back since then. The Revello family had been making wine since 1954 selling off the grapes, but it wasn’t until 1967 when they started to bottle the wine themselves under Giovanni Revello & Figli. It was the year that one of the sons, Lorenzo was born and happened to be a fantastic vintage so they took a leap of faith. In 1990 both brothers Carlo and Lorenzo took over the business and were influenced in upcoming years by their family friend, Elio Altare, who helped them to improve upon the quality of their wines. It wasn’t until 2016 when Lorenzo and Carlo divided and Carlo started his own line of wines.

Carlo and his wife Paola

The Wine

The 2005 Fratelli Revello Barolo DOCG wine is grown in the Annuziata vineyards where I had my personal tasting with both Carlo and Lorenzo. This wine is aged 20% in new French barriques with 80% aged in 2 year old barrels. It’s released 4 years after harvest. The color was garnet to brick color with orange tinges toward the rim, which you’ll see as a wine ages. A perfumed nose of dried cherries, violets with some earthiness. Bright acid still lingering on this wine right up front upon taste. Dried cherries and baking spice show on the palate with the tannins softening for an elegant finish. A little more femininity on this wine, which can sometimes be typical in the wines that hail from La Morra compared to some of the other communes. ABV 14.5%

Join us live on Twitter this Saturday @ 11am EST at #ItalianFWT as we chat all about Barolo. Join my fellow Italian food and wine lovers as they share their Barolo features this month. Enjoy!