2018 Vietti Barolo Rocche di Castiglione

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 92.7 points

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  2/20/2023 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  I tasted the '18 Rocche again after first tasting it last summer, at which point I was relatively unimpressed with the wine. My sense is I misjudged the wine a bit, and I found it better this time around. I think it's going to take a while to come around and show its true quality, whereas I found the prior few vintages of Vietti Rocche to be more obvious on release. I don't see this as an "early drinking" 2018.
  
  On the nose, the wine opens with beautifully perfumed aromatics of exotic tropical fruits, sweet red roses, menthol, and light red berry fruits. The aromatics of the '18 Rocche are very nice, and at this stage, a good notch or two higher in quality than the palate.
  
  On the palate, I found the wine medium to light in body, on the lighter side by the standards of this wine, and more closed off than the nose. I get the sense there's more stuffing here than I gave credit for in my tasting note last year, but the wine is quite tight right now. I found the flavor profile on the palate to be lighter red berry fruits, a hint of citrus peel, dried red floral tones, dried herbs, and a touch of chalk, with orange peel and dried red floral tones lingering on the finish. I found medium to high acidity, a good sense of energy, and medium tannins (not as finessed as the best vintages of this wine, where the texture is pure silk).

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  1/28/2023 - drwine2001 wrote:

  La Festa del Barolo (Los Angeles) Grand Tasting (Marino Restaurant, Los Angeles): Sappy. Terrific earth/fruit balance and depth. A more serious, ageworthy wine than the Castiglione and a clear step up in quality.

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  6/30/2022 - Robmcl920 wrote: 92 Points

  The '18 Rocche has pretty aromatics, but comes across as light and somewhat diluted / lacking in fruit vs. prior vintages.
  
  The nose was nicely perfumed, with very pretty aromatics, clearly lighter and more savory than the better vintages, but also with some of the Vietti Rocche signatures. I found fresh roses, cool herbs such as mint, blood orange peel, light red raspberry fruit, a hint of sweet spices, and a hint of iron (some savory components here). There's more floral, and cool-toned herbal flavors here than fruit.
  
  On the palate, the '18 Rocche is light bodied and relatively smooth with some fine grained tannin emerging on the back end. Acidity is medium to high. I found some red raspberry fruit, red floral tones, orange peel, savory herbs, and spice, with smoky and spicy red fruit tones lingering on the finish. But the palate here is fairly light, and at least for now, isn't showing much complexity.
  
  This was on PnP and an hour or so afterwards; if the wine changes over time, I will update my TN. On initial impression, the aromatics here are pretty albeit a bit lacking in primary fruit for a wine of this age, but would probably warrant a score several points higher; the palate holds the wine back in my opinion.
  
  Update (Later on Day one): The '18 Rocche is unchanged with more time. The aromatics continue to be much more interesting than the palate. It's possible over time the flavor profile on the palate will open up, and then this will be very nice, but unclear if there's enough raw material here for that to be likely.
  
  Update, 2 Days After Opening: Left in my wine fridge for 2 days, the '18 Rocche actually may be showing a bit better on the palate now than it did on day one. It remains a very light wine, but it seems like a bit more fruit and inner sweetness has emerged on the palate. The aromatics remain very pretty. I'm still not thrilled with the wine, but the fact it's held up and maybe slightly improved after two days open is a good sign.

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  6/1/2022 - wineswithmuscles Likes this wine:

  A dancer, a ballerina, in 2018 showing its trademark elegance and grace with an immense amount of splendor. The nose shows fresh berries infused with minerals; the captivating bouquet continues seamlessly on the palate. The 2018 is all pure, lithe, refined, intense and persistent, the best elements that the 2018 vintage provided, attributes that work so well with a Cru like Rocche di Castiglione. Luca managed to capture all this beauty and radiance in this compelling Barolo. Pressed roses & flowers, luscious red berries, orange zest, crushed stones and ethereal tones linger between soft textures & tannins. A sense of weightlessness, together with the inner depth, speaks of the poise and elegance here. A magnificent Rocche and testimony of the best qualities of the vintage.

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  5/6/2022 - Biggsy wrote: 93 Points

  Tasted at @Jeroboams 'Fiesta Piedmontese'. Short note: Feels tighter and tenser than the Lazzarito and Cerequio before it. Lots of depth and power, the same elegant velvety tannins as the other wines tasted today.

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