From the atlas
Francesco Rinaldi & Figli
At A Glance
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| Location | Barolo village, Langhe, Piemonte |
| Founded | 1870 |
| Owners | Paola and Piera Rinaldi |
| Grapes | Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto |
| Key Wines | Barolo Cannubi, Barolo Brunate, Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata |
| Farming | Organic |
| Cellar | Long maceration, large Slavonian-oak botti, no new oak |
The Producer
Francesco Rinaldi & Figli has been making Barolo from the village of Barolo since 1870, the founding year cut into the stone walls of its old cellar. The estate grows Nebbiolo across three of Barolo's most significant communes: Barolo, La Morra, and Castiglione Falletto. From those vineyards it produces single-cru Barolos from Cannubi, Brunate, and Rocche dell'Annunziata, each farmed to the same code: organic viticulture, unhurried maceration, no new wood, long ageing in large Slavonian-oak casks before any bottle leaves the cellar.
The estate is run today by the sisters Paola and Piera Rinaldi. Since 2023 they have been joined by Piera's daughters Elisa and Francesca, the fifth generation to work these parcels. The winery operates under Francesco Rinaldi's name because of a family separation in 1922: Giovanni Rinaldi's sons divided the property between them, and the winery continued under the name of the youngest, Francesco. That decision from over a century ago is still the label on every bottle.
Place
Barolo is a red-wine appellation in the Langhe hills of Piemonte, built entirely around Nebbiolo. The DOCG designation covers eleven communes; the Rinaldi estate works parcels in three of them. Each commune carries a distinct geology and microclimate, which means the Barolo label alone tells you less than knowing which commune and which vineyard the fruit came from.
The village of Barolo sits at the heart of the appellation and gives its name to the whole zone. La Morra, slightly further northwest, tends to produce Nebbiolo with more open perfume and softer texture in younger vintages. Castiglione Falletto, to the east, is associated with firmer, longer-lived wines. All three communes appear on Rinaldi estate bottles, either directly or through the location of named parcels that sit on their borders.
By law, Barolo must be aged for at least 38 months before release, of which 18 must be in oak. The Rinaldi approach goes well beyond that floor. The wines reach the market only when the estate judges them ready, not when the clock permits.
Soil And Site
Cannubi is one of Barolo's most discussed hills, a single ridge in the commune of Barolo covered in calcareous Helvetian-era soils: compact, chalky, with good drainage. The Rinaldi holding on Cannubi covers 2.8 hectares in total, split between 0.6 hectares of Cannubi proper and 2.2 hectares of the adjacent Cannubi Boschis sub-section, all southeast-facing. That exposure gives the fruit long afternoon sun without the scorching intensity of a due-south aspect. The calcareous base moderates the natural power of Nebbiolo and encourages acidity and ageing capacity over early flesh.
Brunate sits on the boundary between the communes of Barolo and La Morra. The approximately two-hectare Rinaldi holding is also southeast-facing. That borderline position means the wine draws character from both communes: the mineral grip of Barolo soils on one side and the more aromatic inclination of La Morra on the other.
Rocche dell'Annunziata is a La Morra vineyard. The Rinaldi parcel there covers just 0.3 hectares, the smallest holding in the estate, and its La Morra position gives it a more perfumed and silkier quality than either Cannubi or Brunate.
Story
Giovanni Rinaldi established the estate in the Langhe hills in the nineteenth century, drawn to a vineyard-planted hillside in Barolo that he recognised as capable of serious wine. By 1870 the cellar was operating, and the date was carved into the building itself rather than recorded only on paper.
In 1922 Giovanni's sons divided the property. The winery passed to Francesco, the youngest of the brothers, and has carried his name ever since. Over the following decades the estate passed through the family generation by generation. By the time Paola and Piera Rinaldi took charge, they had inherited both the parcels and the method: long fermentations, old large casks, no rush toward early release.
The most significant production decision of recent decades came quietly, with the 2018 vintage. The family had owned the Rocche dell'Annunziata parcel since the 1960s, farming it organically and folding its fruit into blended Barolo Classico for over half a century. In 2018 Paola and Piera separated that fruit for the first time and bottled it as its own cru. The parcel is small and the wine is scarce, but since 2018 the vineyard’s fruit has been vinified as Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata.
In 2023 Piera's daughters Elisa and Francesca joined the estate, the first members of the fifth generation to work the vineyards and cellar.
Vineyards And Cellar
All three cru vineyards are farmed organically. No synthetic herbicides or pesticides enter the parcels. The choice matters in a zone as densely farmed as the Langhe: organic management preserves the microbial life of the soil and forces a closer relationship between the vine's roots and the geology below.
In the cellar the approach has remained consistent across generations. Macerations are long: the skins stay in contact with the fermenting juice for an extended period, which draws more tannin, more colour, and more of the aromatic compounds locked in Nebbiolo's thick grape skins. The resulting wines are not built for early drinking. They are built for time.
Ageing takes place in large Slavonian-oak botti, the traditional large oval casks of Piemonte. These are old wood: they contribute oxygen slowly and allow the wine to develop without adding any dominant toasted or vanilla character. No new oak is used. The wines carry their own fruit and tannin architecture without a layer of wood flavour on top.
Wines
The three cru Barolos anchor the range. Barolo Cannubi is the largest holding and the flagship: Nebbiolo from southeast-facing Helvetian-era soils, aged in old Slavonian botti, with the mineral clarity and long tannin grid that calcareous ground tends to produce. Its sibling from Cannubi Boschis shares the same ridge but has its own registered sub-zone designation; both are bottled separately.
Barolo Brunate draws from the two-hectare parcel on the Barolo and La Morra border. Brunate typically gives Nebbiolo with a broader, more generous character: softer in the first years after release, with red fruit that opens more readily than Cannubi's tighter frame.
Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata is the newest entry in the cru range, first bottled as a standalone wine with the 2018 vintage. It is also the smallest: 0.3 hectares yields very little wine. La Morra's influence comes through in the perfume and the texture, which is silkier and more immediately aromatic than either of the Cannubi bottlings.
Beyond the cru Barolos, the estate makes a blended Barolo Classico, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Grignolino, Dolcetto d'Alba, and Barbera d'Alba. The same cellar code applies across the range: no new oak, long maceration where appropriate, no shortcuts on ageing time.
In The Glass
Cannubi opens with dried rose, tar, and a mineral thread that comes from the chalky Helvetian soils. On the palate the wine is firm from the first sip: fine-grained tannins that grip without roughness, a mid-palate of dried cherry and orange peel, and a long finish with grip at the back. Young vintages are austere. Given four or five years of bottle age the fruit begins to open and the tannin softens into a more giving texture, though the mineral spine remains. Professional assessments of recent vintages note its long-lived character, with some expecting the wines to develop well into the 2040s and beyond.
Brunate in the glass is more immediately generous: dark cherry, earth, a touch of violets, and a broader mid-palate. The tannins are present but less angular than Cannubi in youth, and the finish has more warmth and less mineral sharpness.
Rocche dell'Annunziata is the most aromatic of the three: floral and perfumed on the nose, with fruit that sits toward the red end of the spectrum, fine tannins, a juicy quality in the mid-palate, and a firmer grip on the finish than the nose prepares you for. The 2021 shows juicy fruit alongside tannin bite and a firm underlying form.
All three wines carry the mark of long maceration and old botti: firm tannin and no wood flavour.
A Bottle To Understand It
Barolo Cannubi is the right first bottle from this estate. It is Nebbiolo from the most significant parcel in the Rinaldi holdings: 2.8 hectares of southeast-facing Cannubi on calcareous Helvetian soils, aged for years in large old Slavonian botti before release. No new oak. No concession to softer, more accessible early drinking.
The wine arrives with dried rose, a thread of mineral chalk, and dried cherry fruit on the nose. The palate is firm and precise: tight tannins, a mid-palate of dark red fruit and citrus peel, and a long finish that tightens at the back. It needs time. A bottle opened inside two or three years of release will be closed and angular. Given five years or more it broadens and rewards. Start here to understand what traditional Barolo from this hillside tastes like, and why patience is not optional.
Anecdote
The Rinaldi family owned the Rocche dell'Annunziata parcel in La Morra from the 1960s. For roughly fifty years, when harvest came in from that small plot of 0.3 hectares, the grapes went directly into the blended Barolo Classico. No separate label, no cru designation, no way for anyone drinking a bottle to know that the fruit had come from one of La Morra's most respected vineyard sites. The parcel earned nothing by way of recognition; it simply disappeared into the blend. With the 2018 vintage, Paola and Piera Rinaldi changed that. They separated the fruit, vinified it alone, and bottled it as Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata for the first time. The volume was small, the wine scarce. A plot that size does not generate many cases. But the decision was clear: the parcel had spent fifty years inside something larger, and it was time to find out what it could do on its own.
Final Word
Francesco Rinaldi & Figli is a Barolo estate that has not moved toward the market. The method is the same it has been for generations: organic farming, long macerations, old large casks, no new wood. The wines take years to open and reward patience over accessibility. For a buyer who wants to understand what traditional Barolo from three distinct communes and soils actually feels like in the glass, these three crus offer a clear comparison. Cannubi, Brunate, and Rocche dell'Annunziata are different wines from different places, made by the same hand, to the same code.
Sources
- https://www.rinaldifrancesco.it/en/cellar/
- https://www.rinaldifrancesco.it/en/vineyards/
- https://www.polanerselections.com/producers/francesco-rinaldi/
- https://bottleswithhistory.com/pages/francesco-rinaldi-en-traditionel-familieejendom-i-hjertet-af-barolo
- https://www.rinaldifrancesco.it/vino/barolo-cannubi/
- https://www.wineenthusiast.com/buying-guide/francesco-rinaldi-2021-cannubi-nebbiolo-piemonte/
- https://www.wine.com/product/francesco-rinaldi-and-figli-barolo-cannubi-2021/3886181
- https://wineguide.wein.plus/rinaldi-francesco-figli-sas/2021-barolo-docg-rocche-dell-annunziata-piedmont