Cappellano Barolo Chinato

A legend in Barolo—and among artisanal growers throughout Italy—Cappellano was one of the last of the region’s great traditionalist winemakers—and he was one of Barolo’s most compelling personalities. In 1983 he banished all journalists from his cellar, unless they agreed to review his wines without scores. (He saw ratings as divisive among growers.) And he may have been the only person who, during his lifetime, made a Barolo from ungrafted vines. With his passing, his son Augusto will continue Teobaldo’s important work, which includes producing the family’s renowned Barolo “Piè Franco” and Barolo “Rupestris”. The near-universal admiration accorded Cappellano was striking, given that his attitudes were often controversial. Variously described as a “wine artist,” “professional polemist,” and a “poet, philosopher and winemaker in his spare time,” he was president of the influential Vini Veri (or “true wine”) group. He was also a longtime leader of Italy’s sustainable agriculture movement. Cappellano has been compared to Bartolo Mascarello, both as a beloved figure and in the depth of his views. And his Barolos were just as firmly rooted in local traditions as were the late Mascarello’s. Cappellano made fewer than 800 cases of Barolo per year, all vinified traditionally: a fermentation of 14 to 21 days with indigenous yeasts and aging in well-seasoned botti for at least three years. His tiny production quickly disappeared into collectors’ cellars in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. As Antonio Galloni once wrote, “Cappellano’s wines are impossibly hard to find, even in neighboring Alba.”