By Virna Borgogno
Barolo Riserva 2016

Grape Variety
Nebbiolo

Vineyard Details
Appellation: Barolo DOCG
Plant Density: 4,500 per hectare
Vineyard Facing: Southwest
Yield: 50 quintals per hectare
Planting Timeline: 1968 - 1980
Pruning: Guyot (9.10 buds per vine)

Winemaking
Soft pressing of grapes and maceration with skins for 6-9 days at a maximum temperature of 30 degrees C. After malolactic fermentation in spring, the wine is decanted into 30- to 40-hl Slavonian oak barrels and matures for 36 months. After clarification, the wine is bottled without filtration and ages for two years before packaging and consignment. The best vintages are classified as 'Riserva' after five years.

Tasting Notes
With a ruby-red color, the Barolo Riserva is round with a heady nose but a tight palate with bountiful acidity. Lots of life here, if at the early stages of its development.
[Information provided by Opera Wine Imports]

VIRNA BAROLO RISERVA 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Vintage: 2016
Score: 95
Beautifully complex nose with pinpoint balance of ripe fruit and oak spice. Ripe plums and berries combine with cinnamon and mace, folding in brighter notes of orange peel and brighter red berries. Full, silky and flavorful with lightly firm, velvety tannins and a long, balanced finish. Delicious now, but one more year will draw it out even more. Drink from 2023.

2016 Virna Barolo Riserva
Producer: Virna
From: Italy, Piedmont, Barolo
Color: Red
Type: Table 
Sweetness: Dry
Variety: Nebbiolo
Rating: 94
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
Issue Date: 11th Aug 2022
Source: August 2022 Week 2, The Wine Advocate
Drink Date: 2023 - 2038
A blend of fruit from Sottocastello di Novello, Cerviano Merli, Perno, Cannubi and Preda, the Virna 2016 Barolo Riserva is a limited production [...]. Only made in the best vintages, the wine already shows the extra finesse and complexity that comes with those extra few years of bottle age. There are silky tones of dried currant, crushed stone, blue flower and earthy truffle over a tight, streamlined mouthfeel.

Virna Borgogno, Riserva, Barolo, Piedmont, 2016
Tasted by: Aldo Fiordelli (at Alba, 25 Jan 2022)
Points: 92
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040
Producer: Virna Borgogno
Brand: Riserva
Vintage: 2016
Wine Type: Still 
Colour: Red
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Appellation: Barolo
Sweetness: Dry 
Closure: Cork 
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: Nebbiolo
From the Lampia and Michet biotypes of Nebbiolo, this is a blend of different MGAs from both Helvetian and Tortonian soils. Dense garnet in the glass, it displays tar and slightly burnt aromas allied to dried cherry and a kind of linden tree minerality in depth. More sturdy than perfumed, it is firm and quite biting on the palate, with crisp acidity and an austere finish. This old school Barolo shows great sucrosity and good length but lacks a bit of suppleness.