2019 Vietti Barolo Castiglione

Community Tasting Note

12 comments have been posted

• Comment posted by North Willis:

  3/7/2024 11:48:00 PM - @UFSNOOK - thanks for your note. I see that the CT drinking window for this wine starts in 2030. Perhaps hold your remaining bottles to see if that changes your mind? Cheers.

• Comment posted by HeavyPourWine:

  3/8/2024 7:25:00 AM - Same comment from me. The guide I use is don't touch most Barolos for about 10 years. There are some exceptions as some drink very well early. But given how unpleasant your experience was, perhaps there was some bottle variation on that one? From vintage to vintage I've seen that this wine is super solid. I've got a case of this that i haven't touched. You've piqued my curiosity so I'll open one soon and post a note.

• Comment posted by ufsnook:

  3/8/2024 8:21:00 AM - I appreciate the input from others. I agree that I would want to wait longer to drink a barolo. I opened this bottle to (1) test it, and see if I should buy more for long-term storage, for (2) my own development in tasting wine at different points in its evolution, and (3) due to other CellarTracker tasting notes stating this was surprisingly approachable for how young it is. I have 2 other bottles that I will be aging, and won't touch the next bottle for ~5 years. I hope some magic happens... but am not optimistic. Really looking forward to tasting notes from others. Hopefully it was just an extreme bottle variation, as I know this producer is well regarded.

• Comment posted by Robmcl920:

  3/8/2024 9:08:00 AM - I haven't opened a '19 Castiglione, but the single vineyard wines from Vietti in '19 have been extremely impressive and while tight (2019 is a particularly tight vintage across most wines), also enjoyable with vibrant fruit. My hunch would be this could have been mildly corked (not so much that you notice off aromas, but enough to strip the wine of its fruit) or damaged somewhere in transit. I'd try one of your other bottles, but if that shows similarly then it was probably heat damaged somewhere along the line.
  
  Vietti's style tends to be fairly giving, with vibrant sweet fruit and often in recent years like '19 I get a touch of citrus fruit notes like blood orange. These wines age very well, and the '19s need time, but they should not be showing like this bottle. Unfortunately, so much wine is damaged in transit somewhere along the line.

• Comment posted by jeffjohnsonjj@hotmail.com:

  3/8/2024 9:39:00 AM - Agree with the others - I usually don't drink Vietti normale for at least 10 years after the vintage, especially in vintages like 2019. I find these wines blossom with a hint of tertiary flavors that develop after 10-15 years.

• Comment posted by VincentMorey:

  3/8/2024 3:23:00 PM - I have a bottle which I am keeping in the cellar and probably will for longer, but perhaps this needs a full proper decant of 2 to 4 hours first or it is in a dull phase for that particular bottle. And perhaps a pretty heavy duty meal to go with it from charcuterie to meat sauces and some roast leg of lamb. But then again there are some wines that are heavily rated (including one in top 10 wine spectator) that even with a decant and a full meal it just didn't work, and sadly that happens sometimes.

• Comment posted by HeavyPourWine:

  3/8/2024 7:36:00 PM - Coravin'd a glass of this for science tonight. initial nose/mouth very unpleasant. Still tightly wound and not giving anything at an hour. Tried again at hour 3, still not very good. At hour 4 it really opened up - lovely fruit, the nose was expressive. But def heavy tannin. Then tried it with some food and it tamed the tannin - it was very nice with food. Sipped on it for another hour and the last few sips at hour 5 amazing. Made me want to Coravin another glass but no time tonigth to wait another 5 hours! Glad I bought this case as this will be rocking in a few years! I'd score it an 85 through hour 3 and ended on a 92 at hour 5. I'm sure it'll be a few points upside with several years.

• Comment posted by ufsnook:

  3/9/2024 8:33:00 AM - @HeavyPourWine, thank you for your note!! For my taste, even on day 3 of the bottle being open (stored with cork in, in the fridge), I did not find much to enjoy about the bottle. Although some of the tartness had receded. I ended up (sadly) dumping the bottle. I will revisit in a few years to see what I learn. I'm still very curious about what makes this wine's style so much different from the 2019 Azienda Virna Di Borgogno Barolo Cannubi, which I found immensely enjoyable. Maybe it is something to do with Cannubi vs Castiglione, as I know I've found other Cannubis to be enjoyable

• Comment posted by Robmcl920:

  3/9/2024 8:40:00 AM - Not to beat a dead horse, but if you found nothing to enjoy in the bottle, it’s probably either a bad wine or a bad bottle. I’m pretty sure this is a good wine, so the bottle you had was likely flawed, either due to a bad cork or heat damage along the way. I’ve opened 100s of bottles of young Barolo and even if they are tight, the good wines almost always show their potential immediately.
  
  The Vietti Castiglione is a blend of a number of vineyards, named because Vietti is in the village of Castiglione Falletto. So it doesn’t represent any one vineyard expression. Cannubi is typically a light, approachable fruit forward vineyard so it is true that’s probably more approachable, all else equal.

• Comment posted by ufsnook:

  3/9/2024 11:49:00 AM - @Robmcl920
  
  So helpful. Thanks for your comment. I'm hoping it was just a bad bottle. Hopefully not heat damage, since that may be bad for my other 2 bottles in storage... and I agree that I expected something that showed some potential. I was expecting something overpoweringly tannic, but instead found a very thin and weak wine with tartness. Very interesting on your Cannubi note, as I've found the Cannubi's I've tasted to be MUCH fuller/denser than this wine. So again, hopefully just a bad bottle, but I don't have enough experience to say that for sure

• Comment posted by BPej:

  3/12/2024 8:26:00 PM - Never tried the Virna but it sounds like they fit more into the modernist camp of smaller format oak and only 10 days on skins. The Vietti although a small portion goes into small oak, most is in large format. Also ferments in stainless for 3-4 weeks on skins. So very different styles to start with. This wine is usually fairly delicate and slightly tart but should have a pretty good mouthful of tannin. It’s possible you just like the fuller and less tart style of the Virna? Maybe that mixed with being slightly corked could also be a possibility? Either way, I’d put the rest away for 5+ years in the name of science.

• Comment posted by ufsnook:

  3/13/2024 7:59:00 AM - @BPej this might be what I'm looking for! The oak influence may explain a lot, as I do tend to prefer wines with oak influence.