Marcarini Barolo 2015
Vintage 2015 was the complete opposite of the cool and wet 2014. Summer was very warm, although the vines were able to draw on ample water storage thanks to heavy winter snow, and just when it looked like another 2003 was on the cards the weather cooled in late August and conditions until harvest were near perfect. In Alessandro Masnaghetti’s book Barolo MGA, Volume II, the data shows that 2015 was warmer than the ten year average of 2007-2016, yet September and October were cooler than the ten year average. 2015 presents as a warm vintage with rich and ripe fruit, but there is also considerable tannin and acidity to the wines, something that sets it apart from recent warm vintages like 2009 and 2011. The wines are incredibly open and approachable now, delicious in fact, and they will age well over the medium term. It might not be a vintage for twenty-thirty years in the cellar however that’s not a bad thing as there are plenty of vintages, past and future, for that. At Marcarini this year I had a slight preference for La Serra. In the warmer vintages like ‘15 the higher site really preserved the fruit/floral aromatics and overall freshness. – Matt Paul, Trembath & Taylor
Marcarini Barolo La Serra 2015
The 2015 Barolo La Serra is wonderfully silky, aromatic and refined, with all of the lift that is such a signature of this high-altitude La Morra site. Flowers, sweet red cherry, spice, tobacco and cedar are wonderfully delineated. Even more importantly, the aggressive tannins that once often penalized this wine are pretty much absent, a change Marcarini ascribes to gentler handling of the fruit during the initial part of fermentation. This is very nicely done. 93 points (tasted Feb ‘19). Antonio Galloni
Marcarini Barolo Brunate 2015 375ml
The 2015 Barolo Brunate is powerful, dense and tightly wound. That should not be much of an issue, as the 2015 will be released later than normal, a path Marcarini will take gradually over the next few years with the goal of releasing the wine two years later than they had previously. Dark and hulking in the glass, the 2015 is clearly not in the mood to show all of its cards today. Iron, smoke, menthol, game, dried rose petal and soil tones give the Brunate its brooding, inward personality. 92 points (tasted Feb ‘19). Antonio Galloni
Marcarini Barolo Brunate 2015 Magnum
The 2015 Barolo Brunate is powerful, dense and tightly wound. That should not be much of an issue, as the 2015 will be released later than normal, a path Marcarini will take gradually over the next few years with the goal of releasing the wine two years later than they had previously. Dark and hulking in the glass, the 2015 is clearly not in the mood to show all of its cards today. Iron, smoke, menthol, game, dried rose petal and soil tones give the Brunate its brooding, inward personality. 92 points (tasted Feb ‘19). Antonio Galloni
