2014 Barolo & Piedmont Vintage

The Langhe had a mild winter and a spring that arrived gradually but early, so the vines started growing earlier than the previous year, with uneven development from the start as differences between valleys showed. Early summer temperatures were fully normal, and heat accumulation over the season was in line with recent years. Rain fell during flowering. Summer rainfall in the Langhe was above average, less because of the number of rainy days than the intensity of the storms, with a couple of very localized cloudbursts. The rains of 23 and 29 July stood out: some areas recorded 63 mm in a single day, while others only 15 km away saw 13 mm. Piedmont's July was marked by violent storms with high rainfall and hail in some areas of Barolo, and hail struck the Barolo zone in a patchy, leopard-spot pattern. Rain combined with temperatures that were not low set up ideal conditions for fungal disease, and growers had to thin, pull leaves and time their treatments carefully to bring in healthy bunches. The weather turned drier by the second week of August and eventually clear and sunny. September was positive, with a good day-night temperature swing that held through October and drove ripening. Picking in Piedmont began on 1 September for Moscato, 16 September for Dolcetto, 21 September for Barbera and 2 October for Nebbiolo. Yields fell 20 to 50 percent, and more in hail-damaged vineyards.

• Mild winter and early spring in the Langhe
• Cloudbursts on 23 and 29 July: 63 mm in a single day in some areas, 13 mm just 15 km away
• July storms brought hail to parts of Barolo; Barbaresco had no hail
• Drier from the second week of August; Nebbiolo picking in Piedmont began 2 October; yields down 20 to 50 percent

Barbaresco was the clear exception. The Consorzio described its 2014 climate as privileged, with rainfall three times less intense than the rest of Piedmont and no hail, and Michele Chiarlo told WineNews that at least 100 mm less rain fell in Barbaresco than in Barolo. In the Barolo zone, results were far more varied than in recent years, partly because of the patchy hail, and hail struck several major MGAs. Within Barolo, La Morra, with its sandier soils, performed well, while Serralunga, where the soils are cooler clay, took longer to ripen, and Gaja harvested there 10 days later, at the beginning of November. Beyond the Langhe, Luca Currado of Vietti singled out Barbera d'Asti: "Asti is fantastic because there we had much higher temperatures in the summer, no hail and half the rain of the Alba region," he told Wine Spectator.

• Barbaresco: rainfall three times less intense than the rest of Piedmont and no hail
• Barolo: more varied results than recent years, with hail in several major MGAs
• La Morra's sandier soils performed well; Serralunga's cooler clay took longer to ripen
• Asti was spared hail and had warmer summer temperatures and less rain

Wine Spectator judged quality better than expected, particularly for late-ripening Nebbiolo, and called the year difficult for Dolcetto, because of hail, and for white grapes, especially Moscato. Dolcetto was perhaps the lowest-yielding red, but where thinning and bunch cleaning were done properly, balanced wines were in prospect, perhaps less structured and alcoholic, with interesting aromas and marked color, especially around Dogliani and Diano d'Alba. Barbera was more varied across its wider growing area, and August maximum temperatures that were not high kept its acidity up. Nebbiolo showed interesting potential, with no rot in well-worked vineyards whose bunches were well aired. White varieties yielded less than the previous year, with similar sugar levels and sometimes marked acidity.

• Nebbiolo: quality better than expected, favored by the drier, sunnier late season
• Dolcetto: hit by hail and perhaps the lowest-yielding red
• Barbera: acidity kept up by August maximum temperatures that were not high
• Whites: lower production and sometimes marked acidity; Moscato had a difficult year

Wine Spectator ran Bruce Sanderson's 2018 retrospective under the title "2014 Barolo: The Controversial Vintage." Maria-Teresa Mascarello of Bartolo Mascarello told him, "It was the most difficult vegetative cycle since 1991/1992," adding that there was hail three times; Sanderson suggested she slightly exaggerated the rainfall. Chiara Boschis called 2014 "a year where you see the good farming." Some producers, like Mascarello, felt blending sites was an advantage and others chose not to bottle individual crus, while at G.B. Burlotto, Aldo Conterno, Giuseppe Rinaldi and Vietti, Sanderson found the single vineyards showed the best of the year. Luca Currado of Vietti summed up success as the absence of hail combined with top sites and described 2014 as a very transparent vintage, meaning the wines are very expressive of their origins. Sanderson found no unripe fruit or tannins on his visits and described the Barolos as pure, elegant and balanced, yet structured, with freshness and intense flavors on lightweight frames. The Consorzio expected Nebbiolo wines of moderate alcohol, elegant and balanced, with good acidity and so long-lived, and with fine aromas rich in mineral notes. In October 2014 Michele Chiarlo told WineNews that Barolo Nebbiolo had low quantity and average quality, with alcohol a little low at around 13 degrees.