1961 Barolo Riserva

The 1961 Barolo Riserva, a library release directly from the Borgogno cellars, offers up plenty of dried cherries, dried roses, licorice and tobacco, all framed by firm, dusty tannins. Despite its mid-weight body and age, the wine shows plenty of depth and fine overall balance. Borgogno offers an incredible range of older vintages. The estate decants these older bottles to remove sediment, tops them off with wine from the same vintage and re-corks the wines prior to selling them. In the past, I haven’t been a huge fan of the library releases because a number of bottles have come across as over-manipulated and exceedingly fresh to the point of delivering little of the mature-Barolo experience readers expect from a 50-year old wine. Not here, though, the 1961 Riserva is simply beautiful from start to finish. (AG)

Very good colour for such an old Barolo. A very attractive nose, quite warm and inviting, with macerated black and green olives, a touch of leather, wet sand and damson. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh, well balanced with good acidity, very natural with a lovely supple finish with vestiges of summer fruit and raisin. Superb. (NM)

The 1961 Barolo Riserva, a library release directly from the Borgogno cellars, offers up plenty of dried cherries, dried roses, licorice and tobacco, all framed by firm, dusty tannins. Despite its mid-weight body and age, the wine shows plenty of depth and fine overall balance. Borgogno offers an incredible range of older vintages. The estate decants these older bottles to remove sediment, tops them off with wine from the same vintage and re-corks the wines prior to selling them. In the past, I haven’t been a huge fan of the library releases because a number of bottles have come across as over-manipulated and exceedingly fresh to the point of delivering little of the mature-Barolo experience readers expect from a 50-year old wine. Not here, though, the 1961 Riserva is simply beautiful from start to finish. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020. ||Entrepreneur Oscar Farinetti, Borgogno’s new owner, has made at least three fortunes; the first in his family’s supermarket business, a second in the appliance business and a third in his Eataly chain of upscale food and wine markets, which incidentally is set to open its first location in New York City this summer. More recently Farinetti has set his sights on wine, and has bought important, and in some cases full, stakes in a number of wineries in Piedmont, including Fontanafredda, Borgogno and Brandini. Farinetti is also rumored to own silent interests in several other local estates. Farinetti has given Borgogno a much needed face lift, beginning with an attractive retail shop that sells all of the estate’s wines, including a number of older Barolos. Since Borgogno is among the last wineries to release their Barolos, it is hard to tell if winemaking will take a different direction from the austere style that built the house’s reputation. One thing is certain; Farinetti has built an impressive track record of success and he is bringing the same level of determination to his ventures in the wine world. It will be interesting to see what develops at his properties over the coming years. Wine Advocate.February, 2010