The top team from Grinzane
Simone Fiorino is young, but he really knows what he's doing. When he talks about his vineyards, it becomes obvious he spends a lot of time there. When he talks about the winery, there is always some new development or innovation (in 2018, they introduced a gentler destemmer). Simone works with his sister Martina, and their parents Bruna and Franco; Bruna Grimaldi is a Grinzane Cavour-based family business, though when you taste their wines it feels more like a labour of love. We tasted a lot of lovely 2018s on our visit to Barolo last month, but the Grimaldi '18s were outstanding.
I think it must have a lot to do with the questioning, undogmatic mindset here. While they tend towards a traditionalist approach, that is a result of trial and experimentation, not ideology. When they adopted the traditional submerged cap approach to fermentation, they did so because extensive experiments had convinced them it gave the most elegant, integrated tannins. It wasn't ideology that made them choose to raise their 2018 vintage entirely in traditional botti, it was because they thought those suited the vintage - and if you visit their winery you will see other wood formats are available.
I was especially impressed by the way the Grimaldis have handled the balance between their classic, blended Barolo and the crus. (Some producers got this a bit wrong in 2018). Camilla (red cherry and cured meat) is their classic Barolo, blended from fruit across five villages and their top cru sites. It is succulent, pithy and perfumed. Bricco Ambrogio (blood orange and camphor) comes from Roddi's only cru site. 'I wouldn't say it is an easy vineyard to work, but in wet years there is little disease pressure, and in hot years it doesn't suffer from hydric stress, and that's the mark of a really good vineyard,' says Simone. Badarina (raspberry and balsamic) is very Serralunga in its structure and mineral finish. /NT
Read our full 2018 Barolo vintage report here.
