Giuseppe Rinaldi

Founded in 1870, Giuseppe Rinaldi is one of Barolo’s historic estates and among the region’s most revered traditional producers. The domaine’s early history is closely linked with the Barale family, and bottles bearing the “Barale & Rinaldi” label can still occasionally be found in older private cellars. In 1919, the family holdings were divided, creating the three estates known today: Francesco Rinaldi, Barale Fratelli and Giuseppe Rinaldi.

The estate entered its modern era under Battista Rinaldi, who joined the family winery in 1944 and took full control following his father Giuseppe’s death in 1947. A prominent figure within the village, Battista later served as mayor of Barolo and became the first president of the town’s Enoteca. In 1992, the estate passed to his son, Giuseppe “Beppe” Rinaldi, who would become one of the defining figures of Barolo’s traditional school.

Beppe remained unwavering in his commitment to the methods and philosophy of an earlier generation. While many producers embraced shorter macerations and French barriques during the 1980s and 1990s, Rinaldi continued to favour long fermentations, extended ageing in large Slavonian oak botti and the blending of vineyards to achieve balance and complexity. His wines are unmistakably classical in style: structured, savoury and capable of remarkable longevity.

An outspoken figure within the region, Beppe strongly opposed both the expansion of the Barolo DOCG boundaries and the growing focus on single-vineyard bottlings. Historically, the estate’s two principal Barolos were blends: Brunate-Le Coste and Cannubi San Lorenzo-Ravera. Changes to DOCG regulations in 2009, however, prevented the continued use of multiple vineyard names on labels. From the 2010 vintage onwards, the estate introduced Barolo Brunate, alongside Tre Tine (“three vats”), a blend drawn principally from Ravera, Cannubi San Lorenzo and Le Coste.

Today, the estate farms just under eight hectares across some of Barolo’s finest sites, including Brunate, Cannubi San Lorenzo, Ravera and Le Coste. Production remains modest at around 40,000 bottles annually. The vineyards are organically farmed, while work in the cellar remains entirely traditional, with spontaneous fermentations in upright oak tini, long macerations without temperature control and ageing exclusively in large Slavonian oak casks.

Following Beppe’s death in 2018, the estate passed to his daughters, Marta and Carlotta Rinaldi, who had already worked alongside their father for many years. Marta, trained in oenology, oversees the cellar, while Carlotta manages the vineyards. Together, they continue to uphold the estate’s deeply traditional approach while producing wines of purity, perfume and longevity that rank among Barolo’s finest.