Buying Barolo: the Barolo Buying Guide
With Barolo & Co I want to tell you as much as possible about Barolo, in the broadest sense of the word. In the end, every wine lover mainly wants to know one thing: which Barolo should I buy?
On this page I will help you with that. Barolo is enormously diverse, so I will generalise here and there. I do try to give you the clearest possible guide. Keep in mind that this guide is coloured by my own taste and experience.
General tips for buying Barolo
Vintages matter, but less than they used to
Since around 1996, almost every vintage has been good to great, with a few exceptions:
- 2002 was a very poor year. You are unlikely to come across it any more.
- 2003 can be skipped.
- 2014 can be skipped too, except for wines from Serralunga d'Alba. There are a few very good ones among them.
All other vintages have produced good Barolo, certainly in the right hands. Also take a look at my overview of the Barolo vintages and their quality.
Don't worry (yet) about the hot vintages
Recent years have become increasingly warm and sometimes drier. If that trend continues, it is a concern. 2024 was warm again, but there was enough rain, perhaps even too much.
So far, both the vines and the winemakers are adapting well. Even in hot years the quality keeps improving. The warm 2018, for example, is a lot better than 2009, and 2003 was downright poor. The winemakers here now have the knowledge and skill to deal with extreme heat.
Still, as a general rule, cooler vintages produce grander wines with more ageing potential than wines from warm years.
Don't only buy the top wines
Expensive Barolo needs much longer to mature than affordable Barolo. The top wines come from estates that select rigorously in the vineyard, on both grapes and vines. These wines are extremely complex and need years to reach their drinking window. They are also the wines investors love, because of their quality, their ageing potential and therefore their rising value.
Do you mainly want to enjoy Barolo? Then you will get a great deal of pleasure from Barolos of around 50 euros that are five to six years old. The entry-level wines from 2018 and 2020, for example, are fantastic right now. Buy that kind of Barolo to drink now and you will never be disappointed.
Be a smart buyer
Don't go for the "trendy" wines and winemakers, because you will pay more than necessary for the same quality. In recent years many small estates have appeared that build a name through social media and then sell their wines at high prices. Up to 2022 they could get away with it, because those years were forgiving. In the more difficult years now coming, the truly good winemakers will rise to the top again.
Also decide beforehand what your goal is: drinking, cellaring or investing. Choose both the estates and the vintages on that basis.
Thinking of investing? Then focus on producers who are still fairly unknown today but may well be a big name in ten years. Barolo has a great many good options for that.
Which Barolo should I buy?
That depends on your goal and your budget. Above you have read how to choose wines you want to drink now. Further down this page you will find my three lists of estates and regions: to cellar, to invest in, and to drink now or within a few years.
Top vintages: buy broadly
In the top vintages 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021, buy as broadly as you can. Build up a stock while prices remain reasonable. These are the vintages to cellar and/or invest in. The older the vintage in this category, the greater the chance that it is ready to drink. See our quality by vintage for general advice.
The coming vintages: 2022 to 2025
- 2022 and 2023 look set to be normal buying years.
- 2024 will be a gamble. Some estates are blending all their MGAs into a single Barolo Classico or Barolo del Comune. That says something, of course.
- 2025 promises to be a top year.
Buying older Barolo vintages
My advice above is about current vintages. Buying older bottles on the secondary market is and remains a risk, because you never know for sure whether they have always been stored properly.
Still, do you come across a batch of 2016 from, say, Azelia at a good price, and you know it has been stored well? Then buy it. 2015 and 2016 are almost impossible to find now, and when you do find them you usually pay top price. The best way to build a stock of well-stored older Barolo is to buy on release and store the bottles yourself. Also take a look at my selection of older Barolo vintages.
My view: Barolo is changing
I live and work among the vineyards of Barolo. I taste, visit producers and follow closely what happens in the vineyards and cellars. And what I see is a region that is changing.
In the past you sometimes had to wait thirty years before a Barolo was ready to drink. With a few exceptions, that no longer applies to almost any Barolo. The Barolo of the future is a wine that is ready sooner and accessible when young, hopefully without giving up any character.
There are two reasons for this. The first is the climate: warmer temperatures and shorter growing seasons give riper grapes and softer tannins. The second is the winemaker. Work in the vineyard and in the cellar is more precise and deliberate than ever, resulting in wines that are in balance earlier.
A nice side effect is that this fits exactly with what today's wine lover wants. Hardly anyone still buys a wine they have to wait thirty years for before it is drinkable.
Does this mean Barolo can no longer age? Certainly not. The best Barolos still develop beautifully over many years. The difference is that you no longer have to wait to enjoy them.
The lists below are based on my personal knowledge and taste. I have not tasted every producer and every vintage, so there are undoubtedly good wines missing. Still, they give a good picture of what is happening in Barolo right now.
The best Barolo estates - list
These are the houses with a proven reputation over many decades and great ageing potential. Their wines are sought after worldwide and scarce, and they hold or increase their value. Expect long maturation: often fifteen years or more before they are truly at their best.
Giuseppe Rinaldi
Traditional house in the village of Barolo, run by the sisters Marta and Carlotta Rinaldi. Brunate and Tre Tine are the classics.
Roagna
Extremely traditional, with old vines and very long macerations. Made for the long term, with the Barolo from Pira in Castiglione Falletto as the highlight.
Giacomo Conterno
The reference house of Monforte d'Alba, with Monfortino as one of the most sought-after Barolos in the world. The Francia, Cerretta and Arione are excellent too.
Bartolo Mascarello
One Barolo, blended from several vineyards, made the classic way. Maria Teresa Mascarello keeps the tradition alive. Iconic and scarce.
Bruno Giacosa
A legend from Neive, with vineyards in places including Serralunga d'Alba. The red-label Riserva is among the best Piedmont produces.
Azelia
The Scavino family in Castiglione Falletto. Precise, long-lived wines at a still reasonable price.
Aldo Conterno
Monforte d'Alba, with Bussia as its home base. Granbussia is one of the great age-worthy wines of the region.
Cappellano
Small production from Serralunga d'Alba, with wines from Gabutti. Very traditional, personal and hard to get.
Domenico Clerico
Monforte d'Alba. Once one of the "modernists", now more refined and balanced. Ciabot Mentin and Pajana are the best-known wines.
The up-and-coming Barolo estates - list
These are strong, reliable producers whose wines you can confidently leave for ten to twenty years. They are often better priced than the list above. Some of these houses could well be among the best Barolo estates in ten years' time.
Luigi Pira
Serralunga d'Alba: powerful, structured wines from Marenca, Margheria and Vigna Rionda, among others.
Ettore Germano
Serralunga d'Alba. Sergio Germano makes clear, terroir-driven Barolo from Cerretta, Prapò and Lazzarito.
Boasso Franco
Serralunga d'Alba. Franco Boasso and his sons Ezio and Claudio make traditional Barolo from Gabutti, Margheria and Lazzarito, with long macerations and ageing in large wooden casks. Classic, full of character and still under the radar.
Brovia
Castiglione Falletto, with classic crus such as Rocche di Castiglione and Villero. Traditional, elegant and long-lived.
Cavallotto
Castiglione Falletto, with Bricco Boschis at the heart of the estate. Traditional and very consistent.
Pio Cesare
A historic house from Alba with a broad range of Barolos. The Ornato from Serralunga d'Alba is the one to cellar.
Cascina Fontana
Small family estate, classically made and still under the radar. Exactly the kind of producer I mentioned earlier.
Paolo Scavino
Castiglione Falletto, with a wide range of crus from different municipalities. Ideal for learning the differences between the MGAs.
Scarzello
A small house in the village of Barolo. The Sarmassa Vigna Merenda is a hidden gem.
Francesco Rinaldi
Barolo, with Brunate and Cannubi. Classic, honest and surprisingly affordable for these vineyards.
Drink now or within a few years - list
Looking for a Barolo you don't have to leave in the cellar for years? Then look mainly to the west of the appellation: La Morra, Novello and Verduno. The soil here consists largely of the younger Sant'Agata marl. It gives aromatic, elegant Barolos with softer tannins that are often drinking beautifully after just five or six years. The more powerful wines from Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte d'Alba and Castiglione Falletto need more patience.
Many estates fall into this category. Below I mainly name our own houses: producers I know well and whose wines we have in stock.
Mario Marengo
La Morra. Brunate and Bricco delle Viole, plus a Barolo Classico from La Morra that already gives a lot of pleasure when young. Modern in style, but with a remarkably careful use of oak.
E. Molino
La Morra. Sergio Molino bottles a small production from the Bricco Rocca cru in Annunziata. Refined, precise and elegant.
Claudio Boggione
Barolo, with a plot in Brunate, the cru on the border with La Morra. Traditionally and organically made, fragrant and approachable.
Cagliero
Just south of the village of Barolo, with Ravera, which extends into Novello, and Terlo. An authentic family estate with characterful wines that are already very drinkable when young.
Stefano Porro
Serralunga d'Alba, and therefore the exception in this list. Stefano farms one hectare next to the Brea cru, as naturally as possible and entirely by hand. Thanks to ageing in tonneaux, his wines are remarkably approachable for Serralunga.
How do I buy these wines?
Ideally you would find a buy button straight away for every recommended producer. Unfortunately it is not that simple.
Barolos come and go, so you cannot always buy them whenever you want. Barolo is also becoming ever more popular, just like Burgundy ten years ago. Worldwide, more and more people want these wines, while allocations keep getting smaller. In recent years, partly due to the unrest in the world, I do see a slight levelling off. Still, with an annual production of around 14 million bottles (roughly one per adult in the Netherlands!), Barolo remains scarce, especially from the better producers. On top of that, 5 large producers account for more than 90% of the Barolo that is made, and it is precisely in the remaining 10% that the most special wines are found.
At Barolo & Co we have more than 50 different Barolos from around ten winemakers in stock, and we have access to many more producers in the region. Feel free to contact us if you are looking for a specific wine, producer or vintage. We live here, so make use of that.
