2018 Barolo, Brunate, Vietti, Piedmont, Italy

With fruit from La Morra, the mid-weight 2018 Barolo Brunate shows a pretty softness and a delicate side with dried rose, lilac and blue flower. The wine completes malolactic fermentation in barrique and is later moved into large oak casks for ageing. This dual oak treatment is part of Vietti's secret recipe for producing the silky tannins and fine texture you taste here. With a production of 4,493 bottles, the wine is recognised for its distinctive aromatic finale of liquorice and balsam herbs.

Vietti is one of the most dynamic wineries in the appellation. Starting with the 2019 vintage, the entire production of Barolo and Barbera is certified organic. This set of new releases comes with three big surprises. There are three new wines in their inaugural release: the single-vineyard Barolo Cerequio (with fruit from La Morra), the Barolo Monvigliero from Verduno and the Barbaresco Masseria, now entirely made with fruit from Roncaglie. 

The Monvigliero is a wine of special interest as it is made with 60% whole cluster fruit in collaboration with colleagues over at Borgogna. I also recently read that Luca Currado Vietti created a shared investment in Monvigliero in 2018 (for an 8,000-square-meter plot in the MGA) with 10 American investors. Luca could not buy the property outright, but under the terms of the shared agreement, the investor group retains 45% of the production each year, released under the Vietti label, and Luca is left with the remaining 55%. The question is: What will he do with his share of that precious fruit?

Drink 2024 - 2048

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (June 2022)