Adri Barr Crocetti

Barolo with Benefits

I am tempted to tell you to stop reading now and go out and buy this and taste for yourself. But I really want to share my thoughts with you. Maybe you could take a friend or a kid or a neighbor with you in the car, and your passenger could read this to you on the way to the liquor store. That would be a good idea.

From Italy’s Piemonte region, the Foot of the Mountain, comes some of the world’s most magnificent food – truffles and spectacular mushrooms, to name but two, and the wines of The House of Cocchi. My regular readers will recall my articles about Cocchi Americano and Vermouth, two of their vini aromatizzati. But Cocchi has a third aromatized wine, Barolo Chinato (key-NOT-o.) Long favored as a treatment for lung ailments, flu, headaches and as a digestivo, the old folks know and love it. Barolo Chinato has warmed and soothed body and soul for well over a hundred years.

There is some dispute as to who invented Barolo Chinato with both Giuseppe Capellano and Giulio Cocchi claiming bragging rights. Giulio Cocchi invented his Barolo Chinato in 1891, and it soon became popular in Italy and Europe. The late 19th century had already seen much experimentation in the development of fortified wines and labels everywhere read “alcool, zucchero, china, infuso di erbe aromatiche, spezie.” The House of Cocchi is now owned by the Bava family and Barolo Chinato is still made according to Giulio Cocchi’s original secret recipe.

Barolo Chinato begins with DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) Barolo, the king of wines. What sets this apart from any other Barolo is an infusion of chinchona (China Calissaja bark – that’s the chinato part) along with herbs and spices. After almost a year’s maceration, it emerges garnet red from its casks, ready for consumption, a true vino aromatizzato, a revelation kissed with bitters. Whether you drink it at room temperature, warmed or with a chill on it, I can guarantee you will be seduced.

Now please, wine geeks, don’t get all over me about the add-ins to the Barolo. I hear you already. This is not like the time you poured your dad’s Chateau Lafite into the punch at the Frat house. Not even close. As intoxicating as the nose is, the drinking will educe more than you would think possible. This is a complex delectation, viscous, sweet and aromatic, filled with a rich warmth and the taste of orange peel, cherries and raisins, cardamom, rhubarb and gentian along with warming spices – cloves, star anise, ginger and cinnamon. But you do not taste this all at once – bitter and sweet alternate, and flavors, either one by one or in astonishing harmony, come to the fore and retreat making the wine seem almost alive. With a mildly bitter and lingering finish, Barolo Chinato is elegance in a bottle. Read more… »