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Product information

Vietti Castiglione Barolo 375ml 2015

Nebbiolo from Castiglione Falletto, Piedmont, Italy

$69

$66ea in any 3+
$63ea in any 6+
Closure: Cork
Show the class of the vineyards and the winemakers!

Description

2013 was a bold Castiglione for Vietti. 2014 saw a return to a classic wine. Now the 2015, I devoured a fairly ‘large’ glass of this with Luca. Smart wine. Like the 2014 we see the tensions, line, length and purity is impressive. It’s just so drinkable now, but, will undoubtedly last. A little lower in alcohol and higher in acid, this is a delicious, fine wine, with deceptive intensity and length.  A stella Castiglione from Vietti. The shift from the 2014 to 2015 sees more refinement with mouthfeel and more immediate generoisty.

When you learn of the Cru fruit that goes into this it’s clear it is a steel! For me this sits between the 2012 and 2013 in style.

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Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Grapes: 100% Nebbiolo

Winemaking: The grapes are selected from small vineyards spread in the Barolo region. The vines are between 7 and 40 years old, planted in a clay-limestone soil. Plants are trained with guyot method, with an average density of roughly 4500 units per hectare. All the different crus are vinified and aged separately with slightly different processes to underline the singular characteristics of each parcel and terroir. Fermentation occurs in stainless steel with daily cap submersion for extraction of flavour and colour.

Aging: The wine is aged for roughly 30 months in oak and barriques; all parcels are then carefully blended before bottling.

About Vietti

Back in 2005, I spent some time at Vietti. Their winery sits in the castle atop Castiglione Falletto. It’s walls broken by slit windows for archers to defend the grounds. The escape tunnel leading from the castle to the plains below had been filled in only a few years prior to my visit. Somehow they’ve managed to modernise aspects of the winery carving into the rock without collapsing the ancient buildings surrounding it.

One of my earlier experience of Vietti was at the Australian Wine Research Institutes Advanced Wine Assessment Course. A blind bracket of 9 Nebbiolo’s was presented, Vietti’s Perbacco from 1998 and Brunate from 1996. The Brunate was superb. My notes from the tasting read “Very complex, great harmony, texture, rich, long, very together, perfumed, incredible layers andvibrancy.” The Perbacco excellent, particularly at 1/8th the price. “Great purity, balance, and poise. Supple with an excellent core of fruit and lovely floral notes.”

In many ways, little has changed. Perbacco, typically declassified Barolo, is the wine to crack while you’re waiting for your Barolo to mature!

Vietti intrigues me. Some of the best Barolo I have devoured have come from their winery. Watching the wines evolve over time, both the same vintage and across vintages has been fascinating. Modern technology at times pierced the tradition. Last year a vertical tasting going back to 1982 was fascinating. It again highlighted my growing consensus that the drinking window for good Barolo, from great years, starts at around 10 years and is right in the zone between 15 and 20 years. The Villero Riserva is in the rare class of Barolo that will push this window out to 30 years+.

The Vietti family has been producing wine in Castiglione Falletto in the heart of Le Langhe in Piedmont for five generations, with 33 estate vineyards located across all 11 communes designated for the cultivation and production of Barolo, plus Roero for Arneis and Agliano Asti for Barbera and Moscato. In 2016 Vietti was purchased by the American Krause family, however current generation winemaker Luca Currado-Vietti continues to direct the Vietti Estate meticulously, together with his wife Elena Penna-Currado, to produce some of the finest and most representative wines of Le Langhe.

The grapes are selected from vineyards located in Castiglione Falletto, Monforte, Barolo and Novello where the vines are planed an average of 4.800 vines per hectare. The vines are 7 to 35 years old with yields of 35 hl/ha, grown using the gouyot system. After harvesting, the grapes are gently pressed. Fermentation occurs in stainless steel with daily cap submersion for extraction of flavor and colour.

Where in the World is Vietti?

The Krause Family bought Vietti a couple of years back, leaving, Luca and the Family in full control of production, hence the name below.

2015 began with high levels of snow providing good water reserves. Combined with mild spring temperatures and various rain falls, bud break and flowering were early, followed by an excellent fruit set. From the second half of June throughout July, there was no rain and temperatures stabilized to above-average maximums. Fortunately the vineyards were not stressed thanks to the plentiful water reserves. In terms of quantity, production was average allowing for careful, targeted green harvesting with special care taken to ensure foliage was managed to provide good protection for the clusters. There was no disease pressure so preventative measures were not required. The white varieties were harvested between the end of August and mid-September and the excellent sugars were matched by wonderful acidity. The Dolcetto harvest began around the second week in September and the wines were aromatic, softer and deeply coloured. Barbera is the variety which perhaps most benefited from the 2015 season with the usually high acidity tempered by excellent ripe tannins, dense colours and richly flavoured fruit and body. Nebbiolo ripened perfectly, though slightly earlier than the last few years. The excellent quality of the tannins balanced by perfect acidity will certainly ensure elegant, long-lasting wines with good structure.

Vietti’s 2015 Barolos are good examples of the strengths and weaknesses of the vintage as a whole. All of the wines are fresh and medium in body, with good energy and plenty of drive. At the same time, the differences between the vineyard are not quite as marked as they are in truly outstanding years. Even so, the 2015s here are brilliant. I won’t be surprised if they show even better with a few more years in bottle, as they are among the most reticent 2015s I tasted.

Galloni

91 Points

Vietti's 2015 Barolo Castiglione is soft, silky and pliant, all qualities that make it a good choice for drinking now and over the next decade or so. Floral and nicely lifted, the 2015 is very pretty, if not quite the overachiever it can be. I expect the 2015 will be even more expressive once the tannins soften a bit further. In this tasting, the Castiglione stands out for its freshness and energy. Time in the glass brings out an extra layer of textural breadth and resonance that is not immediately apparent.

Antonio Galloni

94 Points

Plenty of perfume here with abundant roses and violets, as well as spice-dusted red cherries and hints of orange rind. The palate has depth and density with a sense of power and detail to the tannins. Long, dense and fresh.

James Suckling

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Vietti, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Castiglione Falletto, Province of Cuneo, Italy

Castiglione Falletto
Piedmont
Italy