A month in Barolo: A visit with Alfio Cavallotto at his winery in Bricco Boschis

A true highlight visit with Alfio Cavallotto in Bricco Boschis, one of the top Crus within Castiglione Falletto, which his family owns nearly the entirety of (a very rare thing in Barolo). Cavallotto is one of the most traditional producing estates in all of Barolo, and have been bottling wine here since 1946. Alfio, along with his siblings Giuseppe and Laura, now run this amazing estate. They are a producer that I love and continue to add to my cellar, including many back vintages (with bottles going back to 1961), and a producer that I’m falling more and more in love with all the time. The position of the estate, and thus, the Bricco Boschis vineyard itself, offers a powerfully commanding view towards La Morra and Verduno. As we stood out overlooking Bricco Boschis, something just felt special and magnetic about the land to me. This place has a wonderful feeling to it. They also have one of the coolest displays I’ve seen, which appears to have one of very single vintage of wine they’ve produced!



The production cellar has a beautiful, grand feel to it, and they also have a bottle aging cellar (for the family) some 20 meters below the earth, where Alfio showed me how the soils of Bricco Boschis are quite the mix of incredibly firm clay, interspersed with sand... not quite as defined stratifications as we see in some of the soils around here. It was a very cool demonstration vs. what I’ve seen in some of the other soils on this trip.



And of course, the wines were all quite lovely, particularly the Barolos. The ‘21 Bricco Boschis, and the ‘19 Vigna San Giuseppe were both true stunners; some of the top wines of their associated vintages on this trip, and will definitely need to land in my cellar. A massive thank you to Alfio for his grand hospitality... I’m just amazed how again and again, the most historical, famous families around here seem to be the kindest, most humbled producers I’ve ever met anywhere in the world. This is a visit I won’t soon forget!

• 2023 Cavallotto Piemonte Pinot Nero Pinner 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC

  While I've been a massive fan of their Barolo for some time, I somehow had no idea they had Pinot Nero planted in Bricco Boschis, let alone that they made a white still wine from it! To be fair, I've never really found white still wine the most compelling wine to make from Pinot Noir, and this lands about the same for me. Somehow this wine smells more like red Pinot Noir than any white Pinot I've ever had. Pretty interesting. Smells nearly sweet in its fruit profile. Really nice, soft pure palate entry, showing puckering acidity and clean fruit. Soft pineapple character on the finish, with acidity lingering quite long. The overall impression of the wine just doesn't leave me with too much pleasure, though.

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• 2022 Cavallotto Langhe Freisa 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Quite hefty fruits show up on the nose, but it still holds its elegance and depth of character. Immediate attack of acid and tannins on the palate, but it's still round and soft in texture. Very interesting puckering notion on the finish, though very tight at current. I think this has all the elements, and everything appears to be in balance, but I think it needs a few more years to fully open up.

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• 2022 Cavallotto Barbera d'Alba Superiore Vigna del Cuculo 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba Superiore

  Very pretty and floral tones on the elegant nose. Soft, more mellow attack on the palate, showing some tart but very pure, pretty fruits. Good strong acidity dials in on the finish, showing good depth. Again, probably a few years for this to fully be running. Lovely wine, though.

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• 2022 Cavallotto Langhe Nebbiolo 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Pretty, soft aromas, offering a pure expression of Nebbiolo character. Soft, tart and brightly puckering acidity enter on the palate. Strong tannins develop if you hold it there, but nice fruit purity remains. Quite tart and tight throughout the palate, though. More mild on the finish, with lovely elegant Nebbiolo character and fruit showing up.

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• 2020 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Lovely to get to try the 2020 and 2021 back to back. Here, the aromas are soft and round, showing large scaled fruit from the warmer vintage. Some minerals, and a bit of underripe red fruit show up. Overall the nose is tighter than I would have expected for a 2020. Soft fruit on the palate, offering a pure, round, and fairly large texture. Very big scale in the mouth for a Bricco Boschis, but still super tight and compact. Puckering very ripe acidity attacks on the finish, backed up by wall of tannin. Gritty for sure, but still large fruited. More bitterness shows up at the tail. 91+

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• 2021 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  More elegant on the nose than the 2020, showing floral character and quite expressive fruit. The vertical integration of its components can already be felt on the aromas. Soft, elegant, and pretty palate entry, showing lots of layers and complexity. A pure, classically structured elegant wine on the palate. Lovely! The structure reveals mostly its structure, but again all integrated very well if imposingly tight. This is a winner to have in the cellar for down the road. Beautiful stuff. 93+

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• 2018 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  And lovely to get to try the 2018 back to back with the 2019. The aromas on the '18 are very fruit forward and strong, but also display a little bit of alcohol. Really elegant an pure expression of fruit on the palate, which is quite pretty and soft in texture. On the palate, it's really about that fruit purity and texture, though, because otherwise the structure is quite imposing and it's not yielding very much. Quite tight. The finish is incredibly youthful, showing very strong tannins and lovely acidity, but it's oh so tightly wound. Heavy fruit, but also a bit of alcohol is noted on the finish. I think this needs at least a decade in the cellar to unfurl, but I'll likely wait 20 to open mine. 91+

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• 2019 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Wow, this is a much more serious and imposing vintage vs. the 2018 poured along side. Beautiful floral notes found on the nose, and this absolutely gorgeous, expressive, pure red fruited tones. It comes across incredibly elegantly on the nose. Again, that elegance follows straight to the palate the second it enters your mouth, showing beautiful texture and vertical integration, from top to bottom. A very classy wine! The fruit on the palate is incredibly pure, all the while maintaining wonderful tannin and acid. Amazingly beautiful and powerful structure on the finish, with puckering acidity and killer length. This wine is a real winner. 94+ but don't let that fool you... that's just how it's drinking today, but that's a strong +. I think this was one of the finest wines I came across on my trip. It just needs a couple decades to fully unfurl into what it can become, when I fully expect it to be yielding quite a bit more pleasure.

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