Barolo Falletto Riserva 2016

The wine in this vintage

Considered by many the finest Barolo vintage of the last two decades, 2016 benefited from a long, even season that stayed cool in its final stages, with a late harvest of perfectly healthy grapes. In such a year, Bruno Giacosa's red label reaches rare heights of intensity. Drawn from the finest parcels of Falletto, the Barolo Falletto Riserva 2016 combines depth and transparency: rose, cherry, liquorice, aromatic herbs and an almost saline minerality, dense and silky tannins, and a very long finish. Robert Parker and James Suckling each awarded it 97 points. Still young, it is destined for an evolution spanning many decades.

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
• 97 James Suckling
• 96 Wine Spectator
• 94 Decanter

Technical details

Producer

Bruno Giacosa

Region

Piemonte

Country

Italia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2016

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

96/100

Sizes

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

eWibe code

0100116