Piedmont Icons Dinner

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | DECEMBER 17, 2025

Reference points. That’s one of the key themes we think about when we develop events, tastings and seminars. This recent dinner showcased five benchmark grower estates, each with their best wines and vintages. It was a magical evening that once again showed how powerful wine can be as a catalyst for conversation and friendship.

We set out to create a high-end Piedmont masterclass. The best of the best. Legacy Records Chef/Owner Ryan Hardy and his team did a fabulous job with the menu, while Wine Director Theo Lieberman took impeccable care of the wines. Unfortunately, Legacy closed earlier this year. We opened bottles and decanted for sediment a few hours before service. I suspect most Vinous readers are intimately familiar with these producers, but for those who are not, I have reproduced the notes from our event program. 

Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio

Mauro Mascarello is one of the few remaining old-timers in Piedmont. Since his first vintage, in 1970, Mascarello has crafted magnificent, classically built Barolos that showcase the glory Nebbiolo is capable of. Time passes, but few things have changed at this decidedly traditional estate. Monprivato is the Mascarello family’s crown jewel. This site has long been known for producing wines of both extreme sensuality and age-worthiness. It is here, in the hills of Castiglione Falletto, that the Mascarellos make their flagship Barolo Monprivato. In 1993, the Mascarellos began bottling a small amount of their Barolo Riserva Cà d’ Morissio from a tiny plot planted with the rare Michet clone.

Bruno Giacosa

Bruno Giacosa was Piedmont’s first progressive, modern producer. His accomplishments, accumulated over a brilliant career that spanned eight decades, are almost too many to list. He was a pillar of the generation that saw Piedmont go from the stark poverty of the 1950s to the economic prosperity of today. Giacosa was also an innovator in so many areas that are now considered standard practice. He was the first producer in Piedmont to wholeheartedly embrace the philosophy of single-vineyard cru Barolo and Barbaresco, one of the first winemakers to have a state-of-the-art cellar with temperature control, an early adopter of French oak and among the first producers to send wines to a lab for technical analysis. His were also among the first Piedmont wines to attain cult status among wine lovers who appreciate the finest Piedmont has to offer.

Roagna

Roagna is among Piedmont’s most historic estates. Records show the Roagna family bottled Barbaresco as far back as the late 1800s. Over the years and decades, the Roagnas thoughtfully acquired parcels in many of the best sites in Barolo and Barbaresco, assembling what is now a very impressive collection of sites. The wines have always been rigorously classic, with long fermentations and equally long aging prior to release.

Luca Roagna took over management of the estate from his parents, Alfredo and Luigina, in 2001. Since then, Luca Roagna has continued to promote his philosophy of low-intervention farming and long aging, while also building a vast new cellar and acquiring several new parcels in important vineyards in both Barolo and Barbaresco.

Giuseppe Rinaldi

“Barolo must be an austere, powerful wine without fruit,” Beppe Rinaldi often told me. In his hands, the wines were often just that. But to talk about wine is almost superfluous in looking back at the remarkable life of a man who was first and foremost a cultural and intellectual icon, and a winemaker a close second. Originally trained as a veterinarian, Rinaldi took over the family estate only upon the passing of his father, Battista, in 1992. Rinaldi championed all of the tenets of the traditional school of Barolo, chief among them the steadfast belief that Barolo should be made from the blending of multiple vineyards, a view shared by his cousin, Bartolo Mascarello. Even now, after a period that has seen the Rinaldi winery gain much visibility, the estate preserves many aspects of times past. Among other things, Rinaldi maintains an active list of private clients who have faithfully bought the wines for many years. For this reason, large parcels of Rinaldi Barolos rarely, if ever, appear in auction markets. Today, Beppe Rinaldi’s daughters, Marta and Carlotta, carry on the traditions that have made their family’s Barolos some of the most highly coveted wines in the world.

Looking Back at 2004

Readers will notice a fair amount of 2004s in the program. It’s a vintage I have always loved. Following the torrid conditions of 2003 in which vines were forced to shut down to survive, 2004 presented far more benign weather. Vines responded by setting a huge crop, a normal phenomenon under the same circumstances. The same thing happened in Champagne, for example.

Visit after visit, I was simply blown away by the 2004s. These were some of the most viscerally thrilling wines of my young career. Not everyone felt the same way. Many produces found the 2004s too light and questioned their ability to age. One early evening, after a visit in Castiglione Falletto, I pulled over and called Robert Parker. This was highly unusual for me. I did not know Bob that well at the time. It was certainly not my custom to call him without an appointment back then. But I was mesmerized by the young 2004s. I told Bob it was a great vintage and asked him to please set aside some pages in the print copy of The Wine Advocate. He graciously agreed. When I got home, that article literally wrote itself in a few days. It was like writing music. It just came out. As for the wines, they have always lived up to my lofty expectations. And they have aged beautifully too. It was such a delight to revisit these 2004s, all of them in fine shape.

Dinner Menu

First

Farro Salad, Honeynut Squash, Pistachio & Parmigiano

Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio: 2007 Barolo Monprivato, 2004 Barolo Monprivato, 1996 Barolo Riserva Ca d’Morissio

One of the challenges with a program like this one is where to start. Every wine in this dinner would be the highlight of most nights, but this is a night of all stars. Our first flight is stellar. I can’t say any of the wines stand out, as we tasted the best of the best!

Pasta

Cavatelli Verdi, Sausage Ragu, Pecorino & Mint

Bruno Giacosa: 2004 Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba, 2004 Barbaresco Asili Riserva, 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto

This flight of wines shows Bruno Giacosa at the height of his powers. Giacosa and longtime winemaker Dante Scaglione made some of their greatest wines ever during this time. I have long had a sweet spot for the 2004s here, as the wines capture that mix of power and finesse that is quintessentially and uniquely Giacosa. 

Corn Scarpinocc, Robiola, Black Trumpet Mushroom, Sorghum

Roagna: 2004 Barbaresco Montefico, 2000 Barbaresco Crichët Pajé, 1996 Barolo Riserva Pira

This flight was one of the most interesting and discussed of the evening. Alfredo Roagna made the wines until 2001, when his son, Luca, took over winemaking duties, although in family estates, these are always more transitions rather than explicit changes. I chose these three wines to highlight this pivotal period for the estate. At the last minute, Luca Roagna added two wines made under his purview to this flight that further illustrated the gradual changes he has made in giving the wines added layers of finesse and nuance.

Main

Amagansett Striped Bass, Tomato, Market Herbs, or Farm Chicken, Radicchio, Truffle Jus

Giuseppe Rinaldi: 2010 Barolo Brunate, 2004 Barolo Brunate Le Coste, 1999 Barolo Brunate Le Coste

The Rinaldi flight is perhaps less nuanced than some of the others in the evening. All of these wines bear Beppe Rinaldi’s indelible stamp. The 2010 Brunate and 2004 Brunate Le Coste are both exceptional. I have had better experiences with the 1999. 

Dessert

Chef’s Selection Cheese Plate

Giacomo Conterno; 2007 Barolo Cascina Francia, 1999 Barolo Cascina Francia. 2002 Barolo Riserva Monfortino

A flight of wines from Giacomo Conterno brings the evening to a rousing close. I chose wines from three eras. Giovanni Conterno made the 1999. He and son Roberto vinified the 2002. A controversial wine at the time, the 2002 went on to become a true icon. Sadly, Giovanni Conterno passed away two years later. By then, the wines had begun to move in a direction of greater finesse. The 2007 Barolo Cascina Francia is a great example.

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