Giacosa's 1996 Falletto. (PHOTO: Bruno Giacosa)

“When this vintage came out, everyone shied away from it,” said Perry Porricelli, president, Italian Wine Merchants. “People thought it was backwards, lean and impenetrable. You needed a certain palate to taste it.”

No one knew what to do with this wine, according to Perry,  but he and Sergio instantly picked up on the projected fruit and longevity of this Piemonte gem that most didn’t recognize.

It turns out that the wine is now one of the most sought after Barolo vintages in history. It also helped put Italian Wine Merchants on the map. “Sergio and I really staked our reputations on this one,” he added.

Some great Barolos were born in 1996. The vintage yielded a Barolo of classic structure. An idyllic growing season offered weather conditions that produced deeply colored fruits, producing wines of great complexity, intense perfume and a firm Barolo structure giving it the ability to mature over a long period of time. The wines have a generous level of alcohol, acid and tannin. A perfect year for the Nebbiolo; harvest went on without a hitch.

“The 1996 vintage in Piemonte was without a doubt— regardless of what scores more “ready” vintages earned—the greatest of its decade,” said Sergio. “The wines I’ve chosen today are well-kept bottles of some of these gloriously-structured wines—among them the Giacosa Asili Riserva, a wine that I consider to be simply as good as it gets.”

“When Sergio and I tasted these, we said wow,” said Perry. “We looked at each other, and Sergio said ‘what do you think?’ and I said I’m going to make sure all of my clients have it.”

The year was an exceptional year for great producers like Conterno, Domenico Clerico, Bartolo Mascarello, Bruno Giacosa, Ceretto and more. More than 14 years after the vintage, IWM brings you our very special selection of 1996 Barolos as well as two outstanding Barbarescos from  Gaja and Roagna.