Renato Ratti Conca Barolo 2012
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A great wine for important dishes, red meats on the spit or grilled, game, "grande cuisine" white and red meat dishes and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A deep and dark red with plum, dried strawberry and fresh flowers. Full-bodied, rich and dense with silky and bright tannins. Lively finish. Better in 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Plenty of warm earth and loam elements shade the cherry, mint and tar flavors in this savory red. Rich, with well-balanced tannins and lively acidity keeping this fresh. Best from 2018 through 2032.
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Wine Enthusiast
Alluring scents of violet and rose waft from the glass. The savory, succulent palate offers ripe strawberry, wild cherry, cake spice, chopped herb and anisette. Firm, refined tannins and fresh acidity provide balance while a saline note wraps up the finish. Drink 2018–2028.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Previously labeled as Barolo Marcenasco Conco, the 2012 Barolo Conca offers a good rationale for being made apart as a single-vineyard expression. In a vintage that sees less expressive aromas across the board, this wine shows slightly rounder and plumper characteristics compared to the other two Barolo wines released by Renato Ratti. The quality of fruit is also a bit more approachable, even at this young stage. The bouquet reveals dark cherry, spice and licorice backed by firm tannins and integrated acidity. The results are not as fleshy or dense as 2011, but this wine holds its own.
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Located halfway up the hill dominating the principal valley of Barolo, buttressed by steep slopes lined by orderly vineyards, lies a precious jewel from the 15th century: the Abbey of Annunziata.
As the monks historically produced wine from the grapes of the surrounding hillsides, today, remembering their lessons, incomparable wines are produced.
From the 100 acres of vineyards, the Renato Ratti winery produces around 150,000 bottles from the traditional denominations of the area: Barolo, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba.
The modern and innovative philosophy of vinification introduced since the 60's by Renato Ratti, is today in the hands of his son Pietro and his nephew Massimo Martinelli.
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.