Guiseppe Rinaldi’s history goes back five generations to the late 19th century, when his family and so many others sold the fruit of their vineyards to the Falletti family. The first Rinaldi winery, still running today under Luciano Rinaldi, was acquired in 1870 from the Falletti’s estate manager, and in the 1920s Giuseppe Rinaldi, grandfather of the current owner, established his own estate with vineyards in Barolo’s best sites… Cannubi, Brunate, Le Coste, and Ravera.

Giuseppe’s son Battista later took over the winery and developed their cellar techniques in order to refine wine quality further. When he passed away in 1992 his son, also named Giuseppe, left his career as a vet to carry on the family work in the winery. 

When I visited the winery last year in 2015, Beppe’s daughter Marta kindly hosted us and presented all the estates current releases. The winery just oozes character, the best of everything that’s traditional and authentic about Barolo, one of the greatest appellations in the world.

Tasting Note: This sexy wine displays a beautiful blood red ruby colour. The name on the label elicits numerous emotions but also an expectation of traditional classism and an element of rusticity. The nose is very expressive with red cherry fruits, sweet black plum, earthy forest floor, dusty chalk and a pronounced truffle oil and earthy beetroot complexity. The palate is sleek, vibrant, energetic with wonderfully fleshy, trufflely, red forest berry fruits. There are layers of gravelly minerality, graphite and dry aniseed root nuanced powdery tannins and hints of salty red liquorice. An extra accessibility with exceptional depth of fruit gives drinkers a suggestion of things to come with Beppe’s Barolo 2013s. A wonderful vintage that can’t be far behind 2010 in stature. Drink now to 2024+ (Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)