March 2026 Barolo Vertical Wine Tasting Notes

On March 9th, 2026, Michael Gansl and I were invited by Wine Spectator to attend a Barolo Vertical wine tasting of Poderi Luigi Einaudi 2022 MGA’s and 1999 Retrospective.

I was able to take notes while tasting some wonderful Barolo wines, but I realized my scribbles could use some help. So, I submitted my handwritten notes to Claude and as you can see, this is what emerged. Both Michael and I reviewed it for accuracy, and we think it is worth posting it on our blog to give our readers what we thought of the wines we tasted.

We hope you enjoy reading my notes as much as I enjoyed tasting the wines. Actually, I’m not sure that is really possible, but I hope you get the gist of it!

By the way, MGA stands for ‘Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive’, which best translates as ‘additional geographical mentions’. This system, introduced in 2010, divides the Barolo wine region into officially recognised vineyards and sub-zones. Think of it as a sort of ‘Premier Cru’ or ‘Grand Cru’ system, but Italian-style.

Matt Plociak