2019 Barolos, Part 2

 Today, two Barolo heavyweights join the reviews. The first stop is at Vietti. The business is now owned by American investors for a number of years, but a lot of senior staff have stayed. Luca, the previous owner left earlier this year. It seems not much has changed, other than pricing.

The 2019 Vietti Castiglione, others would call it classico, is the workhorse, with a production of 40,000 bottles. It comes from many vineyards of the Barolo region and is Vietti’s signature card, if you will. The wine spent 30 months in small used oak barrels. The wine is red fruited, quite elegant and with good drive.  The solid structure is built on firm tannins (93 points). The next two single vineyard wines are the latest additions and come from the northwestern part of the region. The 2019 Cerequio is from La Morra. It is quite a perfumed wine, with red cherry and rose petal flavours and an elegant and silky mouthfeel. It has similarity to the previous wine, but more intensity. No doubt, this is a good wine, but I could not warm to it (94 points).

The 2019 Vietti Monvigliero finally did it for me. I described the vineyard in the Scavino section of the last post, but this wine is quite different. This wine, unusual for Vietti and Barolo, has been fermented with full clusters. It is gentle and elegant, almost Pinot Noir like. Red fruit flavours, orange rind, spice and some herbal notes deliver a complex palate. The emphasis here is not so much the structure, but the length is there in the finish (95 points).

The star of this tasting, however, is the 2019 Vietti Rocche di Castiglione. The vineyard is on a steep hill. It was first made into a single vineyard wine in 1961, Vietti’s first. Red and black cherry flavours are intense and build in richness over the palate. There are some herbal notes as well. The wine has great energy, and the silky tannins lead to a full-bodied and extremely long finish (97 points).

The two cru wines from Elio Grasso are close together in Monforte, but very different expressions. The 2019 Elio Grasso Gavarini Chiniera comes from a limestone vineyard. Generally, Monforte delivers the darkest, most tannic wines, and yes, this wine was macerated for 48 days, but it is red fruited, with orange peel and rose petal notes. This is an elegant and edgy wine, even sultry, with a beautiful silky finish. Flavours and tannins balance perfectly, but you would deny yourself great complexity if you drank this wine now (97 points).

The 2019 Elio Grasso Casa Maté is what you would expect from this region, a great winemaker, and a good year. The soil for this wine is mostly clay, and the maceration has also been 48 days. This is a big wine, rich and dark, with black cherry, licorice, and leather notes. The wine is intense and tannic, with a massive finish. This is an absolute beauty. Big, yes, but nothing is out of place (97 points). 

These two wines are quite different, but for me it is a draw.

Reflecting on these tastings, the most striking feature is how Nebbiolo reflects the soil. There are style differences between winemakers, but within each range, soil is so important, and the terroir is reflected in each single vineyard wine. It is a sign of a great vintage that both aromatic and feminine wines shine, as well as the richer, dark fruited and tannic wines. I recommend to buy from this vintage and mature the wines for a minimum of 5 years. If you can wait, they will be great in 20 years. Also, the Classico wines are very good and deliver great value.