Revello Barolo 2010

The Revello brothers are known for their supple, yet powerful Barolo wines that can be enjoyed either in the first five years of their life or cellared for a decade or more. In the 2010 Revello, one encounters the essence of the La Morra style of Barolo: elegance and power married to a set of complex, nuanced flavors that lace their way through the wine from the first draught of the wine’s heady aroma to the last sip as it exits with a royal flourish – a reminder that Barolo is indeed the “King of Wines.” Revello’s 2010 Barolo provides an amplifying aroma of ripe red fruits, anise, and wild herbs, along with the fresh scents of an awakening spring wood. On the palate, the wine shows considerable length, providing plenty of red fruit, spice, and pure woodland flavors to fill the mouth and satisfy the palate. Although supple and elegant by Barolo standards, the youthful 2010 Revello possesses plenty of muscle. It flexes that muscle first in the mid palate, before exploding on the finish with an array of intense flavors. From the first sip to the last drop, the 2010 Revello Barolo takes the taster through the entire gamut of Barolo’s attributes, further demonstrating why Revello’s wines have catapulted into Barolo’s top echelon. As with all fine Baroli, we strongly suggest extended aeration for the 2010 Revello. Although beautiful from the onset, an hour or two or more resting in a decanter will more than reward the patient imbiber. Enjoy!

The Revello brothers’ 2010 Barolo epitomizes the food friendly style of Barolo that flows from La Morra. Revello’s elegant, full-flavored style of Barolo provides the ideal match for many of Northern Italy’s signature dishes. Tender morsels of pounded veal, sautéed with mushrooms in butter, wine, and savory herbs offers splendid companionship to Revello’s Barolo, especially when accompanied by a traditional Parmesan cheese risotto made with Italy’s own Arborio rice. Roast loin of pork, stuffed with a bread, onion, and herb farce provides another savory dish with which to enjoy the 2010 Revello Barolo. Rotisserie roasted chickens and marinated steaks and pork tenderloins offer tasty, uncomplicated accompaniments, too. And as Barolo is often the last wine served at a special meal, it provides one of the finest accompaniments to soft and hard Italian cheeses, especially Parmesan and Provolone, which normally follow the main course in Italy. Buon Appetito!

“Revello’s… are all elegant, aromatic, beautifully flavored offerings.” -Robert Parker, Jr.

Robert Parker Jr.’s comment pretty well sums up Revello’s rise over the past two decades to the top echelon of producers of Barolo. Since brothers Enzo and Carlo Revello took over their father’s La Morra estate in the early 1990s, Revello has been fashioning some of Barolo’s most compelling wines. With the assistance of Elio Altare, La Morra’s most renowned producer, the Revello brothers quickly transformed their family’s vineyards and began making quintessential Barolo in 1992 under their own banner. Revello, whose vineyards once belonged to the parish church, boasts several crus among its holdings including two of La Morra’s most legendary vineyards: Giachini and Rocche dell’Annunziata. In total, the Revello brothers cultivate about 25 acres in La Morra, of which less than half of that total is devoted to Barolo. The rest of the estate is committed to producing some of Piemonte’s most supple and ingratiating Barbera and Dolcetto.

The Revello brothers’ Barolos have been likened to the finest wines of Burgundy’s legendary commune of Chambolle-Musigny. Although the comparison affords neither wine total justice, it is nonetheless apt; the Revellos make supple, graceful, impeccably balanced wines that age beautifully in the bottle for a decade or more.

Barolo has affectionately and appropriately been referred to as the “King of Wines, and the Wine of Kings.” In a fine vintage and in the hands of a skilled winemaker, Barolo is unquestionably one Italy’s two most noble wines, and richly deserving of the many accolades that have been bestowed upon it. It is born on the Langhe Hills of Italy’s Piedmont, steep craggy Alpine foothills that seem to tumble out of nearby Switzerland.

Barolo is the most masculine of Piedmont’s three great Nebbiolo wines (Barbaresco and Gattinara are typically more delicate) and the focal point in the region’s viticultural tiara. The limited production of Barolo generates from the huddled hills of two valleys, Serralunga and Barolo, and their five principal communities, all of which lie to the southwest of the city of Alba and are reputed to impart distinctive characteristics and traits to their respective progeny. The townships of Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, and Monforte are situated in the Serralunga Valley and are reputed to produce the region’s firmest, longest-lived Barolos. Meanwhile, Barolo and La Morra, from which the more “delicate” wines of the zone are said to flow, are part of the Barolo Valley. However, there are many variations in Barolo on the same theme, and this hardly takes into account the decades old debate in Barolo over the relative merits of the modern versus traditional styles of Barolo, which have as much to do with individual winemaking techniques as they do the amount and kind of barrel aging the wines receive. In the end, great Barolo is fashioned in all five of the major townships, in modern and traditional styles, and all else in between.