Vietti, Barolo 'Castiglione' 2018 (6-bottle case)

The Vietti family has produced fine wine from the heart of the Langhe since the 1800s, when Carlo Vietti established the winery in the medieval village of Castiglione Falletto. At the end of the 1950s, Alfredo Currado, husband of Luciana Vietti, introduced the idea of producing single vineyard crus in Barolo and Barbaresco and in 1961 one of the very first Barolo Crus was produced by Vietti: Rocche di Castiglione. Alfredo was known locally as the ‘Father of Arneis’ as he dedicated time and research into reviving the nearly extinct Arneis variety. Passionate about fine art, in 1974 Alfredo and Luciana started incorporating beautiful works of art on their iconic wine labels. In the 1990s their son and fourth generation winemaker, Luca Currado Vietti, continued the family winemaking legacy. In 2016, the Krause family purchased Vietti and worked alongside Luca until his retirement in 2023. They further developed the estate with the purchase of new, renowned crus in Barolo and Barbaresco, and in Colli Tortonesi where Timorasso flourishes. In 2022, Vietti was awarded 'Winery of the Year' by Antonio Galloni, Vinous.

2018 was a cool year, characterised by a rainy start to the season, especially in April, followed by slightly below-average temperatures through the summer. September brought ideal conditions with perfect diurnal temperature swings, important for the phenolic ripening of grapes. 2018 resulted in classic and elegant wines.

The ‘Castiglione’ Barolo is Vietti’s take on Barolo Classico. The grapes come from around 20 small yet significant vineyards in the various municipalities of Barolo, where the vines are between 10 and 45 years old. The soils in the Barolo DOCG are some of the most ancient in the world and are rich in limestone and clay, these old soils impart finesse, with fine, yet firm tannins and minerality. The overall climate is influenced by the proximity of the Alps, with significant diurnal temperature shifts and cooling downward draughts from the mountains which builds aromatic complexity and retains natural acidity. The Guyot-trained Nebbiolo vines are planted at an average density of 4,500 vines per hectare. The diverse nature of each of the specific vineyard sites, each with its own microclimate and soil composition brings wonderful complexity to the resulting wine. Manually harvested in October.

Each individual cru was vinified and aged separately to bring out the characteristics of each terroir. After gentle pressing, the must fermented for around three to four weeks in steel tanks with skin contact. This period included pre-and post-ferment maceration, involving the traditional submerged-cap method. Malolactic fermentation took place in oak. The wines spent around 30 months in large Slavonian and French oak casks before being blended and bottled.