2016 Carlin de Paolo Barolo Piedmont

The 93-point 2016 Carlin de Paolo Barolo is one of the best Barolo deals we’ve ever offered. 

The product of a small, fourth-generation winery and one of Barolo’s greatest vintages, this is a serious wine—don’t let the price fool you. Bold and intense with beautiful aromas of dark fruit, truffles, and spice, it demands your attention (and some time in a decanter) as it delivers a show-stopping experience.

Barolo is known for its gorgeous aromatics, and this one bursts with notes of cherries, rose petals, tar, and hints of anise that seem to slow down time. The palate shows a bold, spiced fruit, plus the region’s famed grippy tannins. It all leads to a long finish that demands another sip.

This is Nebbiolo in all its modern glory, planted in the dramatic hills around Cuneo, with their perfect mixture of clay and limestone marl. The four brothers behind the wine—Giancarlo, Davide, Lorenzo, and Paolo—are constantly fusing traditional methods in the vineyard with modern techniques in the cellar, polishing the wine in large French oak tonneaux.

That touch, combined with a gentle maceration, makes for a bottle that’s delicious now (after a decant) and will start peaking in the next five years—there’s no need to let it sleep for two decades, as is the case with many of its peers. We’re all stocking up, for the near- and mid-term, and anyone who loves Italian wine ought to as well.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• 30 mins
• Now – 2033
• % Nebbiolo
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork