Vietti Barolo Riserva 2015

Here's an exciting new submission from Vietti that takes us to a whole other level (and evolutionary timeframe). A very late release that is held back at the winery, the 2015 Barolo Riserva sources its fruit solely from Castiglione Falletto. In fact, it represents a special section of the best sites that go into the Barolo Castiglione. Some of that fruit was so impressive, I am told, the decision was made to age it longer (with up to 30 months in large oak casks) and give it a Riserva designation. Specifically, the grapes come primarily from Scarrone and Bric del Fiasc. Production is 5,000 bottles. The wine reveals gorgeous elegance, with evolved fruit flavors and melting tannins. The beauty is that you can drink this wine the same day you buy it.

A rich, round profile carries maturing aromas and flavors of cherry, plum, rose and sweet spices, with grace notes of wild herbs and autumn woods. This is impeccably balanced, with refined, resonant tannins and a lingering aftertaste that echoes ripe fruit and vanilla, adding a mineral element. Complex and approachable now with decanting. Best from 2025 through 2042. 833 cases made, 90 cases imported.

The first vintage for the 2015 Barolo Riserva offers richness and depth of profile, with spiced red plum, sweet balsamic, and licorice. It is full-bodied, with potent intensity in its notes of kirsch and dark mineral earth as well as its sweet tannins.

The 2015 Barolo Riserva is a new wine from Vietti conceived as a blend that changes every year, a sort of Riserva of the Castiglione, in that it is a Barolo made from the many lots Vietti has at their disposal. Exotic red fruit, blood orange, spice, leather and cedar are some of the aromas and flavors that emerge from the glass. The 2015 shows the aromatic complexity of a wine that has been in bottle for a few years, naturally it does not offer the singularity of the vineyard designates. I won't be surprised if this bottling improves in future vintages as the direction becomes even more clearly defined.