Barolo Falletto 2018

The wine in this vintage

2018 was a vintage of changeable character: a very wet spring, a warm and humid summer that called for constant vigilance, and a harvest in which selection was decisive. The resulting Barolos were leaner and more aromatic, appreciated for their early drinkability. Giacosa's Barolo Falletto 2018 reads the year with restraint: fresh red fruit, rose, medicinal herbs and a saline streak, with tannins that are present but less severe than usual. This is a more immediate Falletto, where elegance prevails over power. It drinks beautifully today and can be kept for several more years, without needing the long wait of more structured vintages.

The producer · Bruno Giacosa

Few names embody the Langhe tradition like Bruno Giacosa. Born in Neive in 1929 into a family of wine merchants, Bruno learned to read vineyards as a boy and for decades bought grapes from the finest crus of Barolo and Barbaresco, earning a legendary reputation as a selector. Estate vineyards came later: Falletto in Serralunga d'Alba, acquired in 1982, with its most prized parcel, Le Rocche, and a holding in the celebrated Asili cru of Barbaresco. The style is resolutely classic: long macerations, ageing in large oak casks, and austere, long-lived Nebbiolo that needs time to unfold. In the greatest years the house releases its famous red label, the Riserva, among the most sought-after wines in Italy. Since the founder's death in 2018 his daughter Bruna has led the estate with the same rigorous loyalty to place, preserving the identity of a house that shaped modern Barolo and Barbaresco without ever chasing fashion.

Critics' scores

• 97 Robert Parker
• 94 James Suckling

Technical details

Producer

Bruno Giacosa

Region

Piemonte

Country

Italia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2018

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

95.5/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0100218