The 2015 Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche is historically significant as the first wine in the Le Rocche series to receive a perfect 100-point score from James Suckling, a distinction later repeated only by the 2016 Riserva whose Merchant of Wine tasting note explicitly identifies it as “the second 100-point Vigna Le Rocche, following the 2015.” The 2015 is the regular, non-Riserva expression of Le Rocche, produced from the Falletto vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba without the additional years of ageing that the Riserva red-label designation requires, but nevertheless achieving the highest critical recognition James Suckling had awarded to this wine in its modern history. The 2015 Barolo vintage was outstanding: a warm, rich and generously fruited year that produced wines of exceptional early aromatic appeal and impressive structural depth, among the finest produced in the appellation in the twenty-first century. From the Falletto vineyard’s Tortonian Helvetian marl and limestone soils at the best elevation in Serralunga d’Alba, the 2015 vintage produced Nebbiolo of extraordinary concentration and aromatic richness.

The distinction between the Le Rocche regular expression and the Riserva designation is essentially one of additional ageing time and the strict vintage-by-vintage selection applied to the red-label Riserva programme, whose production has been limited to vintages of 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. The 2015 vintage, despite achieving JS 100 for the regular Le Rocche, was not given the Riserva designation, suggesting that Bruna Giacosa judged the 2015’s character more suited to the standard release format despite its extraordinary quality. The wine was released on schedule and without the extended ageing of the Riserva, and is now approaching its optimal drinking window after ten years from harvest.

A 2015 Giacosa Le Rocche with a confirmed 100-point score from James Suckling represents one of the finest Barolo acquisitions in this catalogue: a wine of legendary Serralunga authority, from one of the appellation’s most celebrated producers, in a great vintage, with the highest critical recognition from one of the world’s most followed wine publications.

Garnet with a complex and evolving nose of dried rose, tar, iron mineral, dark cherry, spice, tobacco and the distinctive Serralunga Tortonian marl character at its most aromatic and generous in the 2015 vintage. Full-bodied with structured but increasingly accessible tannins, excellent natural acidity and a finish of considerable length and mineral persistence. Best from 2025 through 2050.

This is the first 100-point Vigna Le Rocche. What intensity of fruit and transparency this wine offers. Incredible character, with the greatest precision of the 2015 Nebbiolo harvest from Giacosa. A Barolo for the ages. — James Suckling