Vietti Barolo 2019 Arrivals

Vietti’s 2019s are off the charts. I can’t say I am totally surprised, as I have been following the wines for several years. At the same time, it is one thing to taste wines from barrel and another entirely to see the finished, bottled wines in front of you. I tasted each wine from two bottles, one opened two hours before my arrival and another opened when I arrived. This year, I preferred the opened bottles for most wines. From the first wine to the last, the 2019s possess tremendous depth and purity, along with the deep inflections of site that are what Barolo is all about. Readers who can find these wines should not hesitate, as they are truly magnificent. ANTONIO GALLONI

I can’t think of too many estates in Piedmont that have raised the bar higher than Vietti has over the last decade or so. Virtually every wine that emerges from these cellars is outstanding, and many are profound. Winemaker Luca Currado, his brother-in-law Mario Cordero and their staff have taken the early ground breaking work of Alfredo and Lucia Currado and built upon those successes, reaching an unprecedented level of consistency and quality across their entire range. ANTONIO GALLONI

I've been offering Vietti for so many years I sometimes think everything I write about them is a touch hyperbolic but, then I reflect on the estate, the wines and the people involved, and it's hard not to start pulling out superlatives. That's even more the case with this years releases, the 2019s have received reviews, the like of which I have rarely seen. Obviously, the vintage in general has been highly anticipated and, having tasted many 2019s, it's hard to argue the toss. It's a great vintage. Deal into that fact, Luca Currado's sublime talent as a winemaker, working in peerless sites and , you got a perfect storm to produce greatness.

You are being offered these wines because you've supported them in the past. My allocation has been severely cut down so I've concentrated on customers who understand that all vintages from great producers are worthwhile, not just the media-hyped type. In other words, I have tried to only send this offer to true believers and avoid cherry-pickers. 

Now, a little rehash of the Vietti story. 

You'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer bloke than Luca Currado. Despite his family's obvious and almost peerless status within the Barolo firmament, he and wife Elena, remain incredibly generous and kind, as well as passionate about the wines they produce. From Arneis to the greatest Barolo in the stable, every wine appears in a list of the best in the region. Every wine receives the same amount of thought and effort in production. It's been a feature of Currado's tenure - passion, energy, talent. 

The Vietti story is pretty well-known to most of you but for those who might not have the full view of who they are and how they got there, here's an in-a-nutshell version. 

The real key to the Vietti success story revolves around two key points. In the very early days they transformed from farm to be a sole winemaking outfit long before most. At the same time they actively started buying key vineyard land in their own Castiglione Falletto but, unusually for the time, outside in the other communes of Barolo.

Having a stable of "grand cru" sites across the zones has been a pivotal part of their success. It's something that would be largely impossible in this day and age due to the value of the land. Holdings in Brunate, Rocche di Castiglione, Villero, Ravera, Cerequio, etc etc. It's literally a roll call of the best sites in the region. 

The second aspect has been the people and in particular, Alfredo Currado who shaped the estate's success before handing over the reins to his incredibly talented son, Luca, who has continued to push quality to great and greater heights. To have two of the region's all time greatest winemakers in one family and back-t-back is incredible and has undoubtedly been such an important part of making Vietti what it is today. 

OK, let's talk about the Baroli in the stable. The 'Castiglione' Barolo is a remarkable wine. Because Vietti have such fantastic holdings, they're able to choose fruit from across important holdings to produce this "entry-level" blend - their interpretation of a classic Barolo. For any other producer the fruit that goes into this wine would end up in a single cru bottling. It's one of the great bargains of world wine, not just Barolo. 

From here, things enter the stratosphere with single-vineyard wines from Rocche di Castiglione, Villero (only riserva), Brunate, Ravera, Lazzarito, Masseria Roncaglia in Barbaresco and more recently Cerquio and Monvigliero. 

They're all made more or less identically. In the past elevage would be mostly large cask and a little barrique but in the case of the 2018s, everything was done in cask and maceration on skins ranged into the three week zone for most crus. The beauty of this approach means the individual vineyard characteristics are front and centre in the glass. It's an education on what makes each commune and site tick to taste them all at once. Beyond that intellectual aspect though, the wines are brilliant and deserve to be in the company of the greatest in the region.

On that, we recently held a "Barolo stars" dinner which included the greats - Rinaldi, Mascarello, G Conterno, Cappellano etc etc. Vietti's Lazzarito were all part of the line-up. Everything was served blind. One of the experienced tasters in the group offered that one wine in particular was simply awesome but, it couldn't be Vietti, "because I don't rate them". Oh dear, as soon as I heard the words I knew that when they were unveiled, that wines would be Vietti. It was! I love a good blind tasting, makes us look at the wine and not the label! 

Finally, please do not discount the Barbaresco in this offer. It's often one of the best wines Vietti makes but because of the fame of their Barolo crus, is often left out of peoples orders. As Galloni wrote recently, In my view the Barbaresco Masseria is the most under-the-radar wine at Vietti. I rarely see it talked about, and yet it has been quite impressive for a number of years. 

This wine has variously been powered by purchased fruit and a plot within Cotta, Masseria being a fantasy name. From 2018 the fruit is all from the highly prized cru of Roncaglia. The review speaks for itself. 

As usual, I have very little of most of these wines. Certainly enough of the Castiglione to do a good six-pack price but for the others, the limits speak of tiny amounts I have. One nice thing this year though is access to some larger formats. Not always available to me so if you foresee a celebration in ten years or so then grab one. 
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