Vietti Barolo Brunate 2019

The 2019 Barolo Brunate is a powerhouse. Black cherry, plum, spice, lavender, mocha, gravel and scorched earth all build as this virile, potent Barolo struts its stuff. The Brunate is another super-impressive wine in this range. To be perfectly honest, the Brunate has never been one of my favorite wines here, but the 2019 is undeniably great. Perhaps the combination of parcels Vietti has today explains the multi-dimensional vibrancy that comes through. This is simply magnificent.

The Vietti 2019 Barolo Brunate shows an earthy, almost autumnal quality that you don't get in the other wines presented by this leading estate. The bouquet opens to dark fruit, peat moss and rusty nail. The wine is long and fine-textured with silky sensations that add softness to the mouthfeel. Hints of baking chocolate or espresso bean appear on the close.

There is a yin/yang here between ripe wild cherry, kirsch and raspberry fruit and notes of eucalyptus, juniper and hay. They fall under the grip of dense, assertive tannins on the finish today, yet there is plenty going on in this seductive red. Excellent refinement and length. Best from 2027 through 2046.

More structured, the 2019 Barolo Brunate has more depth and richness, possibly because the Brunate has a more southwest exposition. It is ripe with strawberry, spice, and pressed flowers and is more monumental in its gripping ripe tannins, with black tea, black raspberry, and turned soil. This can stand up to more substantial fare at the dinner table. Hold it another couple of years and drink 2026-2046.