The 2013 Barolo Ornato is a powerful, authoritative wine with plenty of tannic heft, muscle and darkness. Today, the Ornato comes across as a bit squashed by its oak and not fully expressive. I expected more, given the quality of this site and vintage. Both bottles I tasted of the 2013 Ornato were decidedly lackluster relative to recent vintages. Perhaps I have been unlucky, but based on what I have seen so far, the Ornato is one of the few disappointments of 2013.

Extremely complex and showing the terroir of Serralunga with rose stems, wet earth, strawberries and mushrooms. Orange peel to boot. Full to medium body, ultra-fine tannins and bright acidity. Fascinating character that takes everything from the aromas. Light chewy on the finish. Expanding. Needs time to soften with bottle age. Better in 2021.

– jamessuckling.com, February 2017

This wine represents a slight stylistic departure compared to past editions. The 2013 Barolo Ornato sees fruit sourced from Serralunga d'Alba from a site that is known for its power and concentration. This wine's identity is tightly linked to the wide popularity of this more robust taste profile. Pio Cesare opted to use a little less barrique and more delicate punch downs instead of pump overs (that tend to increase tannins and bitterness). They have also opted to increase maceration times by a slight margin. The results are spectacular. This is a wine I have always admired and I'm pleased to say that it just got better. Dark fruit and plum segue to soft spice, leather and licorice.

Starts out with breadth and depth to the cherry, earth, leather, tar and leafy flavors, turning more focused as the tightly wound structure emerges. The kaleidoscopic finish goes on and on. Best from 2023 through 2043. BS

Light nose, fairly dilute fruit. Even the tannin seems a little wan. (RH)