I’m a big fan of Barolo, having written reviews of several previous Barolos, and when my wife and I sat down at Ca' Momi in Napa’s Oxbow Public Market to enjoy some traditional Napoletana-style pizza, I jumped at the chance to add a Barolo to my lunch.
First off, let me say that the Reversanti is a fine Barolo. It has all the classic characteristics, including big acid and tannin. But, as a 2008, it’s a relatively young wine for the style, which usually longs for extra time in the bottle to mature and mellow.
The 2008 Reversanti is a blend of nebbiolo grapes from three Barolo producers: Macarini from La Morra, Bongiovani of Castiglione Falletto, and Einaudi from Barolo. The blend from these three different villages are then handled by the winemakers of Marcarini. It’s an interesting take, and either gives the wine an additional balance, thanks to the varied inclusion of vineyards, or it confuses a wine that is famous for being a single expression of a single grape.
The 2008 Reversanti Barolo is beautiful in the glass. It is classicly Barolo in that it’s not completely opaque (a cabernet sauvignon, for instance, usually is). It has a warm salmon-to-vermilion shade at the edge of the wine, that darkens to a sort of purple brick at the center.
On the nose are smoke and oak, along with some root and fruit (rhubarb and plum, most prominently). And on the palate we see the wine’s youth: it’s big, it’s acidic, it’s tannic. There are already some nice elements of red and black fruit here, but this wine needs time. It has to age to truly drink to its capacity.
Drink this Barolo between 2016-2022 if you buy now.
Verdict: 85/100 (as it drinks today)
Price Point: $25-$28