Giacomo Fenocchio is regarded as one of the best Barolo producers today. Here's a piece that sums up why he is so highly respected and what makes his wines an authentic expression of Piemonte as a wine region.

What the critics say

"Woodland-berry, new leather, camphor and fragrant blue-flower aromas align in the glass. Showing youthful tension and depth, the palate is still immaturely austere but delivers juicy cherry, raspberry and licorice alongside firm, refined tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it well balanced. Drink 2024–2041." 

96 points
Wine Enthusiast

"The Villero cru is quickly gaining in prestige and celebrity. The 2016 Barolo Villero raises the bar on this group of new releases from Giacomo Fenocchio. If some of the other Baroli are slightly muddled in aromas, this wine shows a greater degree of focus and precision. You are aware of clear aromas of black fruit, plum, spice, leather and cured tobacco. The tannins are textured but integrated into the rich fiber of this vintage."  

92 points
Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Giacomo Fenocchio's winemaking philosophy

"Claudio Fenocchio took over from his father Giacomo in 1989 – probably the moment of greatest pressure to follow the ‘modern’ winemaking path of short fermentations and aging in new barriques. In fact, it’s difficult now to understand how much pressure was exerted – from peers and neighbors, old and young, from the press, importers, customers, and that mysterious thing called “the market”. It took a strong will to resist, and a strong devotion to tradition. Lucky for us that Claudio stuck with the best of tradition – organic farming, long fermentations, and aging in large Slavonian oak casks. Easy for us too, since we get to drink his wines. Here’s a rare group of Fenocchio bottles spanning the generations, and ending with the beautiful 2016s."

From Chambers Street Wines

Designation: Barolo D.O.C.G.

Grape Variety: Nebbiolo (100%)

Vineyard: The grapes for this wine are sourced from the single vineyard Lazzarito in Serralunga d’Alba. Lazzarito is a wonderful natural amphitheater facing southwest, at an altitude of 260 – 390 meters a.s.l., with a clayey and calcareous soil. Vietti’s property in this vineyard stretches for about 2 hectares. The grapevines have an average age of 40 years. They are planted using the Guyot trellis system with about 4,500 plants per hectare.

Winemaking: Hand-picked on September 29th, 2018, the grapes have been destemmed and gently crushed before bringing them into stainless steel tanks for the alcoholic fermentation. They have spent about four weeks in contact with their skins. This time includes the pre- and post-fermentation maceration, using the traditional submerged cap method. Malolactic fermentation takes place in wood.

Ageing: The wine has been aged for 30 months in large oak casks and, only a small amount, in barriques. It was bottled without filtration.

Description: Deep ruby red colour with garnet nuances. Fascinating and deep on the nose. Notes of hay, cut grass, tobacco, white pepper and a hint of mint. Robust, muscular on the palate, with a taut and mineral finish. The tannins are typical of Serralunga: angular, austere and very deep. Appealing long lingering sweetness on the finish.

Food pairings: Game, red meats, seasoned cheeses.

Paje is one of the great red wines of Italy and is made entirely from the great structured red grape, Nebbiolo; exceptional in taste, complexity and its ability to age for at least a decade, evolving into a silky delicious wine over this time. It's made by the Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme. 

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release. 

Muncagota is one of the great red wines of Italy and is made entirely from the great structured red grape, Nebbiolo; exceptional in taste, complexity and its ability to age for at least a decade, evolving into a silky delicious wine over this time. It's made by the Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme. 

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release. 

Pora is located in a warm and fertile site on a beautiful hillside with west and south exposures nearer to the valley floor. The resulting style is generous with ripe velvety tannins and a certain smoothness.

We have secured small volumes of this age worthy, complex Barbaresco, which comes from the Pora Vineyard, one of nine single vineyard cru Barbarescos made only the best vintages by Produttori del Barbaresco. This wine is full bodied, bone dry and super concentrated with earthy, mushroom aromas tempered by rose petals and delicate red floral aromas. It's produced by one of Italy's and the world's highest quality minded wine cooperatives, which has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 of the nearly 700 hectares in this appellation in Piemonte, north west Italy.

This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme. 

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release. 

Rio Sordo is famous for its noble rusticity and silky quality in the mouth thanks to lower calcium levels in the soils of this vineyard. The wine develops gamey mushroom qualities over time that scream out for it to be served with a decent roast beast.

Rio Sordo is one of the great red wines of Italy and is made entirely from the great structured red grape, Nebbiolo; exceptional in taste, complexity and its ability to age for at least a decade, evolving into a silky delicious wine over this time. It's made by the Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme.

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release.

The Ovello site has more clay, and the resulting wines are plump and fruit forward meaning they often drink earlier, as well as being super age worthy too. Classic ripe cherry notes that develop autumnal qualities and  more of the tar and spice that Barbaresco is famous for with age.

Ovello is one of the great red wines of Italy and is made entirely from the great structured red grape, Nebbiolo; exceptional in taste, complexity and its ability to age for at least a decade, evolving into a silky delicious wine over this time. It's made by the Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme.

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of matu

Montefico is one of the richer of the Cru wines from Produttori coming from a warm clay soil site. A deep and lush wine that is more forward in its youth but that will still profit from long cellar ageing.

Made entirely from the highly structured, exceptionally age worthy Nebbiolo grape in the small and outstanding wine area of Barbaresco by Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme. 

All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30°C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release. 

Cocchi is celebrating its 130th anniversary with the launch of a limited-edition Barolo Chinato  modelled after a 19th-century recipe. Guilio Cocchi, a pastry chef, founded his namesake company in Asti in 1891. To commemorate its 13 decades, Cocchi has created a single vineyard, single-cask, single  vintage aromatised wine called Barolo Chinato Tipo Esportazione, based on a recipe first  developed in the 19th century exclusively for export markets. The recipe was originally formulated with a higher ABV and a specific  blend of herbs and spices, so it would maintain its quality throughout  long journeys by ship. The new bottling is made from the 2016 Barolo DOCG vintage grown in  a single vineyard on the Castiglione Falletto Estate, Piedmont, Italy.  The expression’s botanicals include cinchona bark, rhubarb root,  gentian flowers, laurel leaves, cardamom, coriander and orange  peel. Sitting at 18% ABV, the Barolo Chinato was created for straight  sipping and is said to pair well with dark chocolate. 

THE BOTTLE Each bottle is wax-sealed by hand and features a reproduction of the 1900s label.  In preparation for the gifting season, it comes in a ‘luxury’ box, along with reprints of vintage  Cocchi postcards The Barolo Chinato Tipo Esportazione is a highly collectable Limited Edition distributed in  premium packaging: • Reproduction of 1900’s label, hand drawn and printed with vintage technique • Each bottle is sealed by hand with sealing wax and stamp. • Premium wooden box with brass plate. • Accompanied by reprint of vintage Cocchi postcards.

TASTING NOTES On the nose, it offers rich, woody notes of cinchona bark, dried  tobacco leaves, dried roses and cocoa beans, while the palate  brings sweetness, dark berries, violets, velvety tannins along with  cardamom, liquorice and bitter orange peel. The finish delivers  charred wood, cloves and eucalyptus, plus lingering dark  chocolate. Limited edition of 1200 numbered bottles.

98 points- Jeb Dunnuck

"Located in Novello, from three hectares of the Ravera MGA with southwest exposure, the 2017 Barolo Ravera was aged for 32 months in large oak casks. It is forward and expressive with fresh pine, candied cranberry, orange oil, and aniseed. The palate is full of energetic tension, balance, and purity, with apricot pit, tea leaf and saline minerality. An inspiring wine to close out the Vietti 2017 lineup." Drink 2025 - 2050

97 points - James Suckling

"Dried strawberry and citrus rind, as well as subtle undertones of smoke and dried flowers. Full-bodied, yet so tight and composed with freshness and lightness, yet power, too. Long finish. This really needs time to open. Classic style. Try after 2025."

96 points - Vinous, Antonio Galloni

"The 2017 Barolo Ravera is a powerhouse. My impression is that the 2017 is going to develop into something truly special. It has all the energy that makes this site so distinctive, but with an extra kick of fruit density and a whole range of exotic aromatics that make for a truly drop dead gorgeous wine. Bright red/purplish fruit, rose petal, chalk and white pepper build into a finish laced with searing intensity. This is such an impressive wine." Drink 2027 - 2042