Wine Advisor
Renato Ratti, Barolo Marcenasco 2018
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Nutty red fruit on the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with a light but refined structure and a decent, savory finish. Needs a year to show its best. Drink from 2023.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
This is a classic wine proudly made with consistency over the years by the Ratti family. The 2018 Barolo Marcenasco comes from a vineyard in La Morra that has always been farmed by this estate (but that is not an official MGA). However, it is a brand in its own right known for its especially silky tannins and delicate fiber. The wine shows close-knit aromas of small berries, candied violet and crushed stone.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2018 Barolo Marcenasco is a soft, open-knit wine that shows the challenges of the growing season in its light-bodied structure and ethereal personality. Sweet red cherry, cedar, pipe tobacco and cinnamon are nicely lifted, but there's just not much depth on the mid-palate, which in turns makes the tannins feel aggressive.
About the Producer
Renato Ratti is a wine producer located in Barolo in northwestern Italy. It makes a wide range of wines from a number of Piedmont DOC and DOCG appellations, including Barolo, Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba, Barbera d'Asti and Monferrato. Renato Ratti spent time in Brazil producing Vermouth and sparkling wines for Cinzano before returning to his home in Piedmont in 1965. He purchased his first vineyard in the La Morra area and began making wines labeled with his own name. Today, the estate has 35 hectares (86 acres) under vine, divided among six vineyards: Colombé, Battaglione, Ochetti, Marcenasco, Conca and Rocche dell'Annunziata. Along with the standard Nebbiolo, Ratti also grows Barbera, Dolcetto, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. The estate uses traditional means of winemaking for its Barolo wines, although several concessions have been made to modernity in the interest of quality. After the grapes are destemmed and crushed, fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in oak barrels before the wines are aged in a combination of French oak and the traditional large oak vats. Both fermentation time and the length of time spent aging in oak have been reduced since the estate's inception in the 1960s. Renato Ratti uses some biodynamic principles: vineyard workers must wear cotton gloves as the indigenous yeasts on the grape's surface are key in the production of a Ratti wine, and the wines are always bottled at a full moon. Renato Ratti makes three single-vineyard Barolos, from the Marcenasco, Conca and Rocche dell'Annuziata cru vineyards. These are the top offerings from the estate, and can be cellared for up to 20 years. Along with the range of classic Piedmont wines from Alba and Asti, Ratti also makes a varietal Sauvignon Blanc wine called I Cedri and a blend of Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot called Villa Pattono, both of which are labeled under the Monferrato DOC.