Giuseppe Rinaldi - The heart of Barolo

I’m sure if you hear the name Rinaldi you think of Beppe “Citrico” the man who stuck to his guns and kept up with making a traditntal wine, like his father, like his grandfather. But, of course with a little bit of a “Beppe” twist. Typically Barolo was always a blend of vineyards, it was never, up until the 1960’s a single vineyard expression. The wine was as the famers would always hold many different plots of land and sometimes not in their commune but the surrounding ones, a blend of those vineyards. This would bring to the wine its complexity, as the soil structures are so diverse you could have a wine both with complexity and elegance. Beppe had his own way to show these traits, he decided keeping with tradition to blend vineyards but to choose which ones would be blended together, thus making two Barolo wines. One Brunate - Le Coste (Brunate) and the other Cannubi San Lorenzo - Ravera (Tre Tine). The names in parentheses are the new names given to these wines when they passed a law in 2010 stating that only one vineyard name could be placed on the label, and inside that wine must be 85% coming from that named vineyard. 

Just as his name “Citrico” means acidic, Beppe was one with quite a strong straight forward personality, kind of like his wines. Beppe states his philosophy this way: “I don’t want a wine that pleases easily ... when someone says I like it or I don’t like it and that’s it”, he told The Art of Eating’s Edward Behr in 2000. Beppe wants Barolo that is “austere, severe, that demands research. It takes time. You have to study, to think, to understand, like all of art. It isn’t simple but complex; it doesn’t please right away. It’s the opposite of a mass-produced product. It has angles, not curves. It’s not easy. A good Barolo ... is adapted to long aging.” 

Having had the pleasure to enjoy some dinners amongst the company of Beppe as well as other colleagues/friends, I can attest to his above quote. When it was time for him to open his wines at the dinner table, I can recall, it was a 1998 magnum of Barolo Brunate, the label was not their typical label you will find on the wine shop shelves, but a manilla paper hand written label, with a piece of string tied around the bottles neck. This bottle was coming from his private stash to share with us that evening. While I was filled with the “someone pinch me” sitting at a table with one of Barolo’s most sought after producers having a rare opportunity to enjoy a glass of their wines, I recall even today (years later) the intense aromas of dried rose, tea leaf, and tar and could have happily sat there all night pondering over this glass of wine. 

Today the winery is run by Beppe’s two daughters; Marta and Carlotta, who are continuing in the footsteps of their farther. Marta oversees most of the winemaking part while her sister Carlotta looks after the vineyards.