EXCEPTIONAL: THE BAROLO DI, VINTAGE 2021

A Deeper Personal Understanding:

In March of 2024, Franca Vacca visited me here in Connecticut. This meeting could have been simply that…a tasting and greeting between a winery owner (Cantina del Pino in Barbaresco) and her client.

Instead, I invited friends and we sat around a great big Table in our dining room…I opened a strong vertical of 3 Liter bottles from our Cellar, Allie and I cooked courses of food, and we drank and laughed into the wee hours of the morning. 

This was Franca’s first visit to the US since her husband Renato had passed in early 2020. Indeed, in those dark days (both for the winery and Franca as they lost their beloved winemaker and husband as well as for the World as the early realities of a Global Pandemic set in), we didn’t know if the Winery would continue with the death of Renato. But, Franca, his widow, had been working beside her husband in secret during his illness learning the craft and the nuances of their Estate.

Franca visited, with a heavy heart, as the now vigneron and winemaker of the great Cantina del Pino. We welcomed her with open arms. She thanked me so profusely for the Evening that I felt embarassed…a bit of imposter syndrome. Indeed, all I had done was collected one of my favorite wines in the World over several years…and then pulled the corks among friends. She explained, however, that Renato would have been so full, so overwhelmed to see friends gathered around a big Table laughing and feeding off of the mature wines and delicious conversation and endless laughter. 

Fine wine is simultaneously priceless on a night like the above or similar, and, of course, also not generally inexpensive. To honor this highly select small group of growers and participate fully in this best-and-highest-calling for these Piemontese treasures, we will proceed with our Annual DI Program of seriously discounting mixed cases of these wines so that you can fill your Cellar, your Table, and the Hearts of your guests sometime soon…or in years to come.

 

A More Global Perspective:

A few notes from Charlie Leech’s 2021 Vintage Report. Berry Bros. & Rudd, London. April, 2025: You could describe the 2019 vintage as classic, and the 2020 as elegant. But 2021, out of these three exceptional vintages, is the one that edges ahead, offering us a little something more. 

With this latest 2021 vintage, producers left barrel tastings with cautious enthusiasm. Even at such an early stage, the wines displayed a vibrant concentration and living energy, exuding confidence with a sense of accomplishment and balance. It was an early indicator that there was truth in the hype. These 2021 wines feel propelled forward by their bold structures and ultra-ripe, filigree tannins while showing so much roundness, richness and opulence to the fruit. 

This year – for me and many others – the wines are among the very best I have ever tasted. In the same way that the 2016 vintage redefined the way wine-lovers and collectors interacted with Barolo, so too will the 2021s. These wines are a perfectly harmonious hybrid of all the greatest years. This isn’t just a vintage for lovers of Barolo, it’s a vintage for admirers of the finest wines in the world.

Recent vintages have endured the challenges of drought and modest winters, but the opening chapter to the 2021 vintage is a bright one. Barolo enjoyed a “proper winter”, wet and cold, with frequent rains and plenty of snow providing an abundant supply of water – something that would prove crucial throughout the year. Average rainfall in 2021 was well below the last few years, but it was principally concentrated in the winter – which, in turn, was well above average. The drought that would last for the next three years started later, in the summer of 2021. 

There were some (though far from catastrophic) frosts, often a sign of a cold spring and seen as a positive for many. As with 2016 and 2019, these cold spring temperatures delayed vegetative growth. This set the vines up for a long growing season, allowing for full and even ripening. With flowering occurring in this challenging moment, fruit was scarce but the overall outcome was a positive one, ensuring concentration from the start. 

Compared with 2019, which saw a stormy July followed by frequent rain in August through to September, the dry summer of 2021 meant that vines maintained vegetation and shifted their hormones to ripening rather than focusing on growth. This is key for the very best years. Traditional harvest times stretching into October allowed for complete and uniform phenolic maturation, with some picking occurring far later than usual…This was also the case in the iconic 2016 vintage. 

…The soft, amber glow of the October light creates the perfect conditions for this final stage of ripening. The maturity of the fruit doesn’t change at this point, but grapes are imbued with a cool, composed energy and high-definition detail is concentrated within the fruit. The 2021 vintage is one of homogenous excellence, where each commune so clearly expresses its respective signature …Power, tension and poise from the ancient limestone soils are woven immaculately with sweet, velvet-like, high-toned fruit.