The Producer
Founded in 1870 by Filippo Cappellano, a pioneer for winemaking in the region, Cappellano is one of the oldest and most well respected producers in the Barolo denomination. Since their earliest days, Cappellano has been both a grape grower and wine producer. Although common practice today, during that time, most were either exclusively grape growers or wine producers, and it was extraordinarily rare to do both. When Filippo passed away, his son Giovanni, an enologist, continued his father’s work, and under his direction Cappellano went on to win several medals at international wine competitions. Giovanni passed away from a tropical fever in 1912 in Tunisia, where he’d been searching for phylloxera-resistant vines. Giovanni’s brother, Giuseppe, a pharmacist, took over the estate after his brother’s passing, and is responsible for inventing Barolo Chinato, a fortified wine made by infusing Barolo wine with herbs and spices. When Giuseppe passed in 1955 the firm’s large holdings were divided up amongst his extended family and eventually sold off. In the late 1960s, Giuseppe’s nephew, Teobaldo Cappellano, revived the estate, but had to start from scratch. Teobaldo, or “Baldo” as many knew him by, purchased grapes from trusted growers, and vinified them in different cellars, as all of Cappellano’s vineyards and cellars had been sold. He even once used the Serralunga castle’s historic cellars for one of his first vintages until he’d saved enough to eventually purchase a cellar of his own. In the 1980s, Teobaldo purchased a small 5 acre section of vines in the prized Gabutti cru in Serralunga from a grape grower named Otin Fiorin. Thanks to Teobaldo’s affable personality, Otin sold to Teobaldo despite other estates who’d offered him far more money, and for this, Teobaldo named his Barolo’s after Otin.
Cappellano produces just 2 Barolos, “Barolo Otin Fiorin Piè Rupestris” and “Barolo Otin Fiorin Piè Franco”. The latter is made exclusively from ungrafted Nebbiolo vines, and therefore is unlike any other Barolo currently produced. Teobaldo planted ungrafted Nebbiolo in 1989 in a section of the Gabutti cru to produce a Barolo the same way that Barolo had been made in the old days, prior to phylloxera. This bold and courageous decision has yielded an astonishing wine with incredible complexity, and the vines thankfully are alive and well. Teobaldo believed in producing high quality wines, and believed that in order to do so winemakers need to farm in harmony with nature, and make responsible decisions in regard to protecting the environment. He defended his stance on these issues tirelessly, and was an active participant of the Consorzio del Barolo e Barbaresco, President of Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, and was the President and one of the founding members of Vini Veri (True Wines). In 1983, Teobaldo asked that journalists not publish scores of his wines. He believed in writing about wine, even if the writer didn’t enjoy his wine, but felt that a wine should not be reduced to a numerical value or included in any type of similar classification. During this time he stopped inviting journalists to his cellar to taste who would not abide by his request. However, thankfully, to this day most writers have respected Teobaldo’s wishes with the exception of Robert Parker, who scored Cappellano’s 1989-1998 wines between 87-90 points, and 1997 Piè Franco 83 points. It’s important to note that Parker, and many other well known wine writers of this time, favored wines of extreme power, often accompanied by loads of fruit, and evident oak sensations. His palate and the palate of many other writers during this era overlooked, or even penalized, wines like Cappellano’s, which are more about finesse and elegance. Thankfully, for the most part, things have changed drastically in the world of wine, and most would agree that Cappellano’s wines are consistently some of the greatest wines to be produced in the denomination, and some would argue in all of Italy or even the world.
Today, Cappellano is run by Teobaldo’s son, Augusto, the fifth generation winemaker in his family, who took over in 2009 after Teobaldo’s unexpected passing. Augusto continues to carry out his family’s legacy, producing wines of exceptional quality, with a hands-off approach, and respect for the land. All farming is done with organic methods, minimal copper and sulfur treatments, and never any pesticides. In the cellar, spontaneous fermentation is carried out in wooden vats without temperature control, and wines are unfiltered.
Barolo Chinato
Giuseppe Cappellano’s famous invention of Barolo Chinato was originally created for medicinal purposes. During the 19th century, pharmacists relied heavily on herbal medicine, and had vast knowledge of the therapeutic qualities of each spice. Barolo Chinato was thought to aid in digestion and also served as a treatment for Malaria. Today, Barolo Chinato is produced by just a handful of producers in the denomination and is generally not used for its medicinal purposes, instead it’s enjoyed as a delicious digestive and is often served with dark chocolate. To this day, the Augusto uses the original mortar and pestle that his ancestors used to grind herbs and spices by hand to produce this incredible wine. The Cappellano the recipe remains a family secret, and has been passed down for 5 generations.
Technical Info
Vineyard Site: Gabutti
Comune: Serralunga d’Alba
Province: Cuneo
Region: Piedmont
Altitude: 300-350 meters above sea level
Sun Exposure: South
Varietal Composition: 100% Nebbiolo
Total Production: 20,000 bottles per year on average of all wines combined (not just Barolo Chinato)
Vintage: All bottles of Cappellano Barolo Chinato are technically designated as NV. However, there’s a code on the back of the bottles which indicate the year the wine was bottled. In this case, our bottle is LK119, which indicates the wine was bottled in 2019. Rumor has it, the Barolo used for Cappellano’s Barolo Chinato is 5 year old Piè Rupestris, which would mean this wine is based on the 2014 vintage, though this is not officially confirmed.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Color is reminiscent of caramelized sugar with a ruby red hue
Aromas: An extremely complex nose, with an almost overwhelming amount of beautiful aromas perfectly married to one another. Tobacco, anise, leather, potpourri, an abundance of campfire smoke, caramelized sugar, peppermint, tar, mulling spices, candied pecans, brown sugar, forest, pine, cedar, and chocolate cherry liquors. These aromas are bold, forward, and jump out toward you before even raising the glass to your nose, yet somehow manage to still be quite elegant.
Palate: Flavors of mulling spices, tobacco, cacao nibs, anise, baking spices, rosemary, cinchona bark, calendulas, candied pecans, an abundance of eucalyptus, candied cherries, chocolate cherry liquor, and a hint of mint. Bitter, ultra fine grained tannins with a smooth viscous mouthfeel, lively acidity and an extraordinarily persistent finish.
Notes: We enjoyed this wine after dinner, on its own, meditazione, which is our favorite way to enjoy it. This is one of our all-time favorite wines, and our favorite time to enjoy it is during the holiday season. Something about the aromas and flavors just exude a holiday-like feel.
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