The award-winning online retailer will launch its 2021 Barolo en primeur campaign tomorrow (Tuesday 14 January).
It will feature 61 wines from 27 producers, covering seven communes: La Morra, Barolo, Verduno, Castiglione Falletto, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba and Novello.
The selection will be 50% larger than last year’s 2020 Barolo en primeur campaign. New producers include Ettore Germano, E Pira & Figli, Gian Luca Colombo, Livia Fontana, Poderi Oddero and Mauro Veglio.
Buyer Victoria Mason MW said: ‘This is a vintage Barolo lovers will want to fill their cellars with, but I also strongly believe it is the perfect opportunity for curious fine wine drinkers to dip their toe in purchasing en primeur and starting their own wine cellars.’
Most wines will be offered in cases of six. If allocations are limited, collectors will be offered cases of three or single bottles.
The offer is organised by commune. There are also three mixed cases, including an Explore the Communes of Barolo case. Prices will start from £105 for a six-bottle case of Barolo del Comune di La Morra, Ciabot Berton 2021.
Mason added: ‘The combination of accessible pricing – 25 wines in the selection come in at £200 per six in bond or under – and amazing ageing potential makes buying 2021 Barolo in bond a savvy decision, especially in the context of other more traditional fine wine regions.’
The Wine Society was named Outstanding Wine Retailer of the Year at the last Decanter Retailer Awards. It scooped five more accolades, including UK Wine Buying Team of the Year, making The Wine Society the big winner on the night.
Mason joined the retailer’s buying team last year after previously working for Waitrose and Bordeaux Index.
‘I am so excited about this vintage,’ she said. ‘The wines are exhilarating, intentional and precise. They show great complexity, length, and structure – which nudge us towards a comparison with the 2016s and the 2019s, but the 2021s show an extra dimension, or layer, of fruit; a ripe, rich generosity which is supported by powerful yet wonderfully handled tannins and balanced by vibrant freshness.’
The en primeur offer will run until the end of the month, closing on 31 January.
Mason added that the wines have ‘real identity, transmitting the distinctive personalities of their respective sites clearly and unhesitatingly’.
‘This distinctiveness of site shines through the 2021s with such absolute clarity that I am more convinced than ever of the value of getting to know the minutiae of the different vineyards of Barolo, in the same level of detail that Burgundian terroir is mapped and appreciated,’ she said.
Decanter will publish Michaela Morris’ Barolo report in March. Morris, the Piedmont regional chair at the Decanter World Wine Awards, will highlight her top selections in this eagerly anticipated report.
