Giuseppe Rinaldi

There’s no doubt, that like the Mascarellos, he had an opinion. His nickname, Citrico, attests to this!

His wines truly have great personality. With his premature passing this year, his daughters Marta focusing more on the winery and Carlotto the vineyard, both of whom had been working with him for some time have taken the reigns.

Beppe Rinaldi explores the history of Barolo and his thoughts on its growing and making in a video on any of the wine pages.

His wine philosophy has seen him rail against many of those pushing the latest wine trend, earning him the nickname ‘Citrico’ for his acid tongue!

There’s an overall theme to Rinaldi’s wines. It’s one of exceptional fruit quality, balance, expressive personalities and great beauty.

Back in 2018 I had the great pleasure of devouring a dozen bottles of Rinaldi’s Baroli in one sitting! WOW! When they were at their best they were singing. Unfortuntely, it is near impossible to get more than a few bottles of Barolo and only slightly better when it comes to his Dolcetto and Barbera.

For greater depth watch the films and listen to the podcasts on any of the wine pages. You’ll find Antonio Galloni goes live with Carlotta Rinaldi, Levi Dalton’s Podcast with Marta Rinaldi + a couple of films in Italian.

In the Vineyard

Carlotta has managed the vineyards fully since 2016. The approach continues to evolve. Pruning has shifted to Guyot ‘Poussard’ for vine health. This method considers ‘vine plumbing’ acknowledging sap flows and risk of infection through pruning cuts.

Site-specific management continues.

A new vineyard was rented in Bussia from 2019 adding 1.3Ha of Dolcetto and Nebbiolo just below the winery of Giacomo Fenocchio, a site they are still learning. Their first vineyard with areas that are south-west facing requiring a different approach to the greater exposure to sun and heat.

In the Winery

The winery is located in Le Coste, Barolo.

Beppe Rinaldi, like Maria Theresa Mascarello, has always been a proponent of the traditional approach of blending Crus to achieve balance and harmony. Carlotta speaks of the consistency of recent vintages compared to the vintages of 50 years ago when a more extreme cool wet climate resulted in less consistent fruit making it more beneficial to blend. During those time techniques like leaf plucking to expose bunches to the sun and open the canopy to reduce humidity were common. Now a warmer climate creates different challenges in the vineyard shading of bunches and soil management to retain water are the focus. Achieving flavour and tannin ripeness requires a different approach.

Historically, Ravera stands out as a vineyard that would have been harder to rippen than today.

The Barolos are fermented with natural yeast in large Tine and aged in Botti.

For greater depth watch the films and listen to the podcasts on any of the wine pages.

The historical blends were Barolo Brunate-Le Coste, now named ‘Tre Tine’ & Cannubi ‘San Lorenzo’, Ravera & Le Coste, now named ‘Tre Tine’.

Carlotta feeling is that Le Coste elevating the Brunate.

The Ravera is from the Barolo commune portion north of the Novello portion. The Ravera the fresh acid component. Cannubi ‘San Lorenzo’ & Le Coste more complete as individual components.

Where in the World is Guiseppe Rinaldi?

Giusseppe Rinaldi is located in the Commune of Barolo within the Region of the same name, Barolo, Piedmont.