The Breathtaking Barolo 2016 Vintage: Top 10 Wines, Taste, Prices

by Hunter Robillard

It’s not often that you come across a vintage that has instantly captivated wine collectors worldwide.

The Barolo 2016 is one such example!

While some of the fine wine from top Italian wineries are still to be released, wine collectors are scrambling to get their hands on a bottle from this year.

This article looks at the top 10 Barolo 2016 wines and their unique tasting notes. We also look at why the 2016 vintage is so exceptional and whether you should invest in it.

10 Amazing Barolo 2016 Wines To Try

Here are our top 10 picks of the 2016 Barolo vintage wines:

2016 Vietti Rocche di Castiglione, Barolo DOCG
2016 Ester Canale Poderi dell'Antica Vigna Rionda, Barolo DOCG
2016 Brovia 'Brea Vigna Ca' Mia', Barolo DOCG
2016 Elvio Cogno Ravera, Barolo DOCG
2016 Domenico Clerico Pajana, Barolo DOCG
2016 Trediberri Rocche dell'Annunziata, Barolo DOCG
2016 Cavallotto Bricco Boschis, Barolo DOCG
2016 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Nei Cannubi, Barolo DOCG
2016 Barale Fratelli Castellero, Barolo DOCG
2016 Paolo Manzone Meriame, Barolo DOCG

1. 2016 Vietti Rocche di Castiglione, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($424)

Made from the Nebbiolo grapes from the Castiglione Falletto vineyard - this stunning Barolo opens up with the aromas of blueberries, peaches, and ripe strawberries. This full-bodied red wine has dark fruit, orange peel, licorice, balsam herb, spice, iron ore, and floral notes with velvety tannins on the palate.

2. 2016 Ester Canale Poderi dell'Antica Vigna Rionda, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($418)

This gorgeous Barolo opens up with quintessential aromas of rose petals, dried herbs, forest berries, and dried flowers. The youthful palate has black cherry, licorice, menthol, red fruit, and a tobacco finish. The elegant tannins give this Barolo a firm structure and the bright acidity keeps it balanced.

3. 2016 Brovia 'Brea Vigna Ca' Mia', Barolo DOCG, Italy ($206)

This Italian wine opens up with pine forest, wild berry, rose, star anise, and leather aromas. It has a firm but elegant palate with lip-smacking tasting notes of red berry, tobacco, licorice, and Marasca cherry. The fresh acidity keeps it impeccably balanced, and the tannin level shows this wine’s superb aging potential.

4. 2016 Elvio Cogno Ravera, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($99)

This compelling wine produced in the Langhe area of Piedmont opens up with red berry, leather, rose, and camphor aromas. It is full-bodied with a precise palate, and notes of ripe red cherry, licorice, tobacco, and red fruit.

5. 2016 Domenico Clerico Pajana, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($95)

This complex vintage Italian wine develops different flavors from mushrooms to smoked meats as it breaths. It is produced near Monforte d’Alba and has good acidity and silky tannins, which lead you to a desirable and persistent finish.

6. 2016 Trediberri Rocche dell'Annunziata, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($92)

This dark red wine has all the beautiful aromas of an elegant Barolo, ranging from cherry, plum, coffee, and spice. On the palate, it has fresh acidity and loads of juicy dark fruit notes. This is a tannic Barolo wine with a persistent finish.

7. 2016 Cavallotto Bricco Boschis, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($89)

This great wine has aromas of underbrush, hazelnut, camphor, woodland berry, and a hint of rose petals. The structured palate of this full-bodied wine is still young and displays tasting notes of ripe Mascara cherry, tobacco, star anise, red fruit, and a hint of game. The fresh acidity and a great tannic structure give it long aging potential.

8. 2016 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Nei Cannubi, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($84)

This youthful Barolo has a deep, dark color and aromas of dried herbs, roast meats, truffles, florals, and black fruit. The elegant tannins and fresh acidity on the palate of this complex wine lead you to an intense and lengthy finish.

9. 2016 Barale Fratelli Castellero, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($61)

This wonderfully fragrant deep red wine opens up with notes of warm earth, dried cherry, tobacco leaf, and truffles. This is a more rustic Barolo with fruit-forward tasting notes, serious acidity, and a fine tannin level to match.

10. 2016 Paolo Manzone Meriame, Barolo DOCG, Italy ($43)

This great Barolo from the gorgeous estate vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba has a distinct dark spice aroma. The palate has excellent acidity, ripe fruit notes, and a persistent spicy finish.

Let’s look at why this year is so special for Barolo wine.

What Made 2016 The Perfect Year For Barolo Wine?

While Bordeaux has an established framework for what constitutes a great vintage, Piedmont doesn’t have a similar one.

Five specific criteria need to be met to produce a spectacular Barolo (or Barbaresco) vintage - they are:

A long growing season for Nebbiolo grapes to achieve perfect ripeness.
Diurnal shifts to swing the temperatures perfectly between cool nights and warm days.
No surprise weather events to disrupt or damage a vineyard.
Perfect or stable weather during the last month to ensure the ideal harvest.
A late harvest - October is the perfect time to harvest the fruit - this can occur in late September in some areas.

Since any great Barolo wine is made from 100% Nebbiolo, 2016 ticked all the boxes to produce a great vintage.

The year started slow, and only April saw weather with temperatures above the ten-year average for the first part of the year.
July, August, and September saw above-average heat, but no excessive temperatures were recorded.
Wineries were then able to pick their Nebbiolo fruit at their own pace from mid-to-late October. The Nebbiolo grape varietal grew in loose bunches with thick skins and small berries.

The quality in oak barrels from the beginning gave the growers a sense of excitement for the 2016 Barolo vintage.

And the result of this perfect year: breathtaking fine red wines that capture the full potential of Nebbiolo and Barolo!

Should You Invest In Barolo 2016?

Barolo has had its run of top vintages, including 2004 to 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015. But, the 2016 Barolo vintage promises to be something extraordinary.

Many wine enthusiasts see similarities between a fantastic Burgundy Pinot Noir and the Barolo 2016 vintage.

Wine critics who have been lucky enough to sample this fine wine have been generous in their scores.

James Suckling awarded a 100-point score to two of these 2016 Barolo wines:

Bruno Giacosa Falletto Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche Riserva 2016
Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio 2016

Since their release, wine prices for the 2016 Barolo wines have increased 30-40% over the last four years.

Senior account manager at Liv-ex, Robbie Stevens, has called the 2016 Barolo release a “catalyst in getting savvy collectors of Bordeaux and Burgundy to look at Barolo’s under-the-radar investment potential.”

In 2015, Piedmont wines only accounted for 7% of the Italian wine market (by production volume), and in 2020 that increased to an astonishing 27%.

Even the prices for these gorgeous vintage wines are steadily growing.

The 2016 Vietti Rocche di Castiglione saw an impressive 122% increase in just under two years, going from $191 to $424 (Feb 2020 - Nov 2021.) This vintage also scored an impressive 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Want to get your hands on this elite vintage?

If you want to add a 2016 Barolo to your collection, you need to remember that this is a vintage of quality rather than quantity. These vintage wines are built to last a couple of decades in your cellar (20 to 25 years.)

Cut out the middleman and get an authentic bottle of this great wine for yourself by using a reliable online wine investment platform.