January 16, 2014

We’ve been collecting and drinking Francesco Rinaldi Barolos and Barbarescos for more than twenty years. And we had always hoped the day would come when we could do a fitting retrospective of this great estate, whose first commercial Barolos were made in 1906.

That day finally came. On Thursday, January 16th, in the new private dining room at San Francisco’s Sociale, we will explore Francesco Rinaldi in a way that we doubt has been done before.

Not only will we cover almost every great vintage in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, but we'll be treated to some fascinating comparisons. This includes comparing the Rinaldi Barolos that appeared under different labels (and released at different times) from the 1970, 1971 and 1979 vintages. And we'll get to compare Rinaldi's Barolo and Barbaresco in 1978, 1979 and 1982.

Some of these wines were aged for part of their lives in large 40- to 50-liter glass demijohns. We will see the results of Rinaldi’s famous use of these large bottles to slow the aging of their wines and maintain their youthful richness. 

Here’s the eye-popping list of wines we expect to taste:

1961 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1964 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1967 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1970 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1970 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo (Cavalieri del Tartufo)
1971 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1971 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo (Cavalieri del Tartufo)
1971 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo (Osvaldo Barisone)
1978 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo Cannubbio Brunata
1978 Francesco Rinaldi Barbaresco
1979 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1979 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo Cannubbio Brunata
1979 Francesco Rinaldi Barbaresco
1982 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1982 Francesco Rinaldi Barbaresco
1985 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo
1990 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo