M. Marengo Barolo Brunate 2012
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pair with stewed beef, Piedmontese medium seasoned cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Incredible purity of fruit here with strawberry, plum and floral aromas. Full body, velvety and polished tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Love the texture. Wonderful aromatic red. One of the best ever from here. Better in 2019.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Barolo Brunate is slightly more delicate and feminine than expected. The Brunate vineyard is known for the power and intensity of its fruit. But in this vintage, the site has produced wines with a more streamlined disposition and a lighter aromatic load. All that muscle and brawn is replaced by elegance and finesse. Floral notes are followed by wild berry and white cherry. Readers will know that the Mario Marengo estate had previously rented out a portion of its Brunate vineyard holdings to Elio Altare. But the Marengo family has taken that parcel back and now offers its excellent Barolo Brunate in increased production numbers.
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Wine Spectator
Pure, focused cherry is the dominant theme here, supported by rose, eucalyptus, tobacco and leather flavors. Tightens up on the vibrant finish, where a mineral note emerges. Best from 2019 through 2032.
Other Vintages
2018-
Parker
Robert - Decanter
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Spectator
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Suckling
James -
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Robert -
Spectator
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Suckling
James
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.