Five days in Barolo: A visit at Vietti with Elena Currado

*************************************************************************************************************************
This is part of five days that my wife Natasha and I stayed in Monforte, primarily for the purpose of visiting some of my favorite Barolo producers. I was very pleased as our trip was coming together as we were able to arrange visits with all of my top choices. For further exploration, see also my write ups of visits at: Giacomo Conterno, Giuseppe Mascarello, Cappellano, Giuseppe Rinaldi, Comm. G.B. Burlotto, Bartolo Mascarello, and Azelia. Yes, it was an amazing five days...
*************************************************************************************************************************

Vietti is one of those cross over producers, employing a lot of traditional practices, but also certainly using modern techniques, such as French Barrique throughout much of the production of many of their wines. While I've certainly headed more in the direction of the strict traditionalists, Vietti will always hold a special place with me as they were some of the first wines from Piedmont that I was able to experience when first getting into wine in Portland. Their Barolo Castiglione was perhaps the first Barolo that really showed me glimpses of what's possible here. My friend Dan Johnson visited here a couple years ago and mentioned it was totally worth the visit. We had communicated with Elena Currado, wife of winemaker Luca, and scheduled a visit for 9 in the morning. We arrived to the estate, atop Castiglione Falletto, to some light drizzles in the air. The estate has a beautiful view overlooking the vineyards of Castiglione Falletto.



Our tour was with one other couple from Denmark. I guess there was suppose to be another two people joining us as well, but they never showed. This was the only visit we made that wasn't one on one, but it didn't detract at all. We met our Denmark companions and then Elena joined us outside for quick introductions before walking us into the winery, which was apparently directly below the driveway we were standing on. The whole facility is quite large and is built on the side of the hill with the view above. It's multi level, with each level having its own purpose. Every part of the production facility is temperature and humidity controlled. The first room we entered was the fermentation room, which is entirely made up of temperature controlled stainless steel fermenters.



This is where all the alcoholic fermentations are done. The second level was for malolactic fermentation, also done at a specific temperature, and then the final level for aging. After alcoholic fermentation, it seems most of the wine is usually moved to French barrique, where malolactic fermentation occurs, in rooms such as this one:



I knew Vietti would be the largest producer of the trip, but walking around the facility we really got a sense of the scale here... this was an expansive place, with room after room after room just filled with barriques...









And yes, there are some botti and large cask, too:





The total production of red wine is 280,000 bottles, plus another ~120,000 bottles of white, which are made elsewhere. This makes Vietti four times larger than the next largest of the 8 wineries we visited. Seventy percent of the Vietti wine is exported, and they were one of the first Barolo producers in the US in the 1960s. They have always focused a lot of their attention on the international markets so they weren't so tied to the unstable Italian economy. Elena says the US market is very important to them, but they're getting a lot of requests from emerging markets so they're having to pull some of the US's allocation. Makes sense, this is economics... but hopefully those other markets last. This is surely part of the reason why Vietti wines have more than doubled in price in the US in the last 10 years (silly high scores is probably another).

In Barolo, Vietti have access to 15 single vineyard Crus... "no one else has access to this many Crus," she says. They of course do not make 15 Barolos, but they do separately vinify and age each cru. It seemed as if they didn't have enough fermenters for this, but she says stuff comes in staggered and it usually isn't a problem. Alcoholic fermentations are usually 30-35 days in length for the Barolo, so this is definitely on the traditional side of things.

At the end of the aging period for the Barolo Crus, they taste all the 15 vineyards. They almost always go out with the three historic vineyards (Rocche di Castiglione, Lazzarito, and Brunate). They then decide if the Villero is going to become the Riserva. If not, it gets blended into the Castiglione. The remaining wines are then tasted to see what goes into Castiglione and Perbacco. 2010 was a little different in that we also got a Ravera single vineyard bottling, which usually always goes into the Castiglione. The only other times Ravera was bottled alone was 1999 and 2000 (I think she said their first two vintages with the vineyard). Elena said that when they tasted through everything in 2010 they really liked the Ravera. There's enough that if they bottled the whole vineyard alone they could do 7,000 bottles, but then the quality of the Castiglione would suffer too much, so they did just 3,000 bottles of Ravera, leaving the rest for the Castiglione.

The "Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco" is basically a Barolo, and could be released as one if they so chose, but this is how they want people to be introduced to their Nebbiolo. Elena called this their "training" wine for Barolo. This fruit is treated just the same as the Barolo, and since the final blend isn't decided until after the barrel aging is complete, this has the requisite age to be considered Barolo. The difference is just barrel selection and the fact that they release this sooner, with less bottle age (but the same barrel age).
After our wonderful tour of the production facility, we walked upstairs to a tasting room of sort and Elena began pouring the wines. I was very surprised and pleased to get to taste all of the 2010 Barolos, despite the crazy Galloni scores and the fact that they've been completely sold out for months!

• 2013 Vietti Roero Arneis 88 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero

  Historically Arneis used to be blended with Nebbiolo back in the day, or vinified sweet, like Moscato. 1967 was the first vintage of this wine for Vietti, and Vietti has been said to be the father of this new, dry style. In 2007 Roero Arneis became a DOCG. The DOCG allows up to 25% of grapes besides Arneis. This particular wine is done entirely in stainless steel. The aromas are very fresh and zesty, with crisp lemon. A little constructed and pretty typical notes of generic white wine... could be Pinot Grigio, etc. Clean but metallic. The palate is very smooth and creamy in texture. Fruit forward with lots of lemon. Big richness and minerals even with the rich texture. Interesting counter balance. Vibrant finish with moderate acidity. Nice and coating nature on the finish, with a nice dial up of acidity. One of the better Arneis I've had.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2012 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Tre Vigne 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  Very large and vibrant nose. Huge spicy fruit extract. Quite decadent. Nice palate entry, which is smooth. Not as dialed up on the palate as the nose indicates, but still rich, though balanced. Good moderate acid attacks on the finish, which is tart and puckering. Very nice fruit richness, with good balance of acidity, which lingers long.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2011 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Vigna Scarrone 88 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  These vines are about 30 years old. Very rich and beautiful aromas; creamy and luscious. The palate is very rich and quite large. Smooth fruit though, but pretty hefty. Decent acidity and minerality though. Moderate, tart finish, but not too much depth.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza La Crena 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza

  This vineyard was planted in 1932 and 1935. The wine is kept one more year in bottle before release to let it soften, so it's always a year older than the Scarrone on release. It's also one of the only wines that almost always sees only 100% French Barrique. Rich, more wood notes, quite hefty nose. Large fruit, rich thick creamy cherries; quite luscious. Large scaled palate entry, thick and creamy. Luscious again, but it still dials up with puckering acid on the palate. That vibrant acidity carries into the finish as well... has the most acid of the Barberas thus far. Quite heavy.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2011 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Vigna Vecchia Scarrone 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  There were 3,400 bottles made. There's less than 1 hectare of these old vines, planted in 1918. This results in 60% lower yields naturally than the regular Scarrone, and they still prune back further. Thick and creamy aromas. Very luscious notes; smooth and mellow. Very rich and creamy palate entry. The most balanced of the Barberas, with really yummy minerals mixed with that luscious fruit. Rich acids on the finish with impressive tartness and creamy balance. Really rich acid lingers. Lovely stuff, but not a very good QPR.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2011 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  A blend of the 11 Cru's around Barolo not used in the single vineyard wines. Elena says, "When you consider the cost to make this wine vs. what we charge for it, we should stop tomorrow." However, they want to make this entry level "Barolo" to introduce people to the estate. This spends the same time aging in barrel, but less time aging in bottle before release, as the Baroli. Luscious aromas; a little spicy, but smooth and light. Very smooth palate entry, though quite light and mellow in its approach. Tart and light. Lots of puckering notions, but it's still offering some richness. Pretty tannic on the finish, but it's smooth, rich, and mellow, with those pretty tannins. Still, this is mainly structure right now. Rich, with nice acidity and quite puckering. Lovely, but needs 5 years to come together. Indeed, this tastes like Barolo, not Langhe Nebbiolo.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barolo Castiglione 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  There's normally around 30,000 bottles of Castiglione, but in this great year there were 53,000 (greater than the entire Barolo production of most of the other 7 producers we visited). Fairly quiet aromas. With big huffs I get some nice graphite, but not yielding much on the nose. Smooth palate entry. Quite mellow, but this is a beautiful approach; quite elegant. Rich, tannins start building after 10 seconds. Wonderful palate. Very tart and rich finish, and quite puckering. Pretty, rich, and tart. Huge structure though. Very pretty, but it's tightly wound. Needs serious time, but this will be lovely. 91+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barolo Brunate 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Usually about 3,400 bottles. All of the Crus were bottled in half bottles for the tasting room. Fairly large and hefty aromas, but still nice, with some floral tones. Pretty elegant. Very nice palate entry, with tart notes and very smooth richness. Huge puckering acid and tartness on the finish. Massive stuff. Very hard to judge at current; just massive, imposing structure and not yielding much. Will become much more, but as always, score for current consumption. 91+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barolo Rocche di Castiglione 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Usually about 3,500 bottles made. Alfredo, Lucca's father, made his first single vineyard Barolo from Rocche di Castiglione in 1961. Very luscious aromas; creamy and quite pretty. Very nice palate entry. Beautiful, glorious notes of smooth fruits and minerals. Lovely finish, tart and puckering, rich and pretty. Still tight, but this is a beauty. 93+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Usually about 5000 bottles made. Smooth, rich, and luscious aromas. Some spice and chocolate notes. Floral, with lovely spice and minerals. Rich palate entry, thick and lovely with floral notes, fruit, spice, and milk chocolate. Smooth texture throughout. Very dry finish and really dials up with the gritty, drying tannins. Really crazy tight.. a few moments after swallowing I get more milk chocolate notes.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Vietti Barolo Ravera 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Only 3,000 bottles produced (the rest, the equivalent of 4,000 bottles worth, went into the Castiglione). This is the first single vineyard bottling of Ravera since 2000. Differently than usual, this was moved to large Slovenian casks for malolactic fermentation, where it resided for the rest of its aging (thus, it saw no barrique). Some tree sap aromas. Quite rich, with floral notes that almost reminds me of jasmine. Lovely fruit comes in initially on the palate, which offers smooth but puckering tannins. Quite pretty and floral. Very tart and puckering finish, with nice acid and leaves the mouth with a luscious feeling. This offered the most acidity of the Barolo Crus. Lovely structure and tartness. Quite puckering and very nice the way it lingers. Beautiful, balanced structure.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2013 Vietti Moscato d'Asti 86 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  There is no CO2 injection here as some Moscato's do; all natural bubbles. Fairly light aromas with some light soapiness. Luscious creamy palate with a yummy candied flavor. So pretty on the finish, but not as rich or complete as previous vintages I've had. Really coating and creamy, but pretty simple. 86

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

The Barolos here were indeed very impressive. I didn't go as bonkers for them as Galloni did, but I expected that. A very enjoyable time, for sure! By the time we left it was raining fairly hard and we were looking for a place to eat before our visit at Burlotto. We looked at the list of restaurants recommended by Elena Mascarello and decided to go to Bovio outside of La Morra. What a wonderful place this is... probably the finest dining experience we had in the Barolo district. Unfortunately due to the weather we couldn't really appreciate the view, but it had a wonderful one overlooking all of Barolo. The service here was impeccable and every single course was wonderful... probably the most lovely was the veal tartare with huge amounts of shaved black truffles!







Also, mid-way through our lunch we saw Elena Currado walk in! Apparently she was having lunch with some clients. We were bummed that we were unable to visit with Luca earlier, who had to take care of business that morning. But luckily Luca was here, and when I got up Elena flagged us down and we got a chance to chat with Luca and her for another 5 minutes or so. They were so warm and friendly throughout the whole visit. This was certainly a memorable visit, and what a special treat to encounter them just minutes after our visit at the winery.

Follow the trail onto Burlotto...