Exploring Barolo with a Blind Tasting

The Piedmont region in Italy is one of my favorite reds to pair with Italian food. The bright acidity and tannins complement tomato-based sauces, cheeses, and meats beautifully.

Barolo are not always the most wallet-friendly wines so when we saw several at Trader Joe’s and Costco, we picked them up and decided a blind tasting would be a great way to see how they show up.

We bagged five different Barolo: two from Trader Joe’s, one from Costco, another from a winery in Italy, and the last one from Garagiste, a Seattle-based retailer that gets rare wines from around the world. We paired the wines with a charcuterie board, followed by meatballs in marinara, and sausage ravioli in alfredo sauce.

Here’s the verdict from our tasters:

1. Damilano Lecinquevigne (Brought back from Italy from one of the tasters): The first Barolo was a light, garnet color and a faint nose. It was youthful, with high acidity, strong tannins, and some vegetal notes. The salami from the charcuterie board was a good match.
2. 2020 Rosa dell’Olmo Barolo (Trader Joe’s): The next Barolo was darker in color, had a floral nose, and notes of bright cherry. Some tasters reported it having a more bitter finish than the first and a more tannic structure, though I found the first one to be a bit more tannic. The acidity of the marinara sauce enhanced the finish.
3. 2021 Kirkland (Costco): This one immediately was a crowd pleaser. It offered the most complexity of the three, with a long finish and a pleasing blend of bright fruit and licorice. I tried this one with the sausage ravioli – delish!
4. 2013 Cerrati (Garagiste): My least favorite of the four, this Barolo was by no means unenjoyable (the food definitely helped it) but it just didn’t offer much complexity. It had a faint nose and generally was a bit thin.

The unanimous winner was the 2021 Kirkland Barolo from Costco!