Barolo Riserva 'Vignolo' Cavallotto 2015

Cavallotto winery's Barolo Riserva "Vignolo" is an important, complex and structured red wine produced in the commune of Castiglione Falletto, a few kilometres from Alba, in one of the world's most appreciated territories for wine-making practice and for the beauty of the landscape, made up of breathtaking hills and small characteristic villages. Made, as per tradition, from pure Nebbiolo grapes, it comes from vineyards of the cru Vignolo, located on hillsides at an altitude of about 310 meters above sea level, with a southwest orientation, and trained using the guyot espalier method on white soils, rich in calcium and sand, characterized by soils with calcareous-clay marls. The winery is a family-run business, owning about 23 hectares under vine, managed by siblings Giuseppe, Alfio and Laura Cavallotto, who follow the dictates of organic farming and produce wines with a traditional style firmly anchored in the winemaking traditions of the area.

Cavallotto's "Vignolo" Riserva is a Barolo made from carefully selected grapes from a single vineyard and harvested by hand around the first ten days of October. The best bunches are then brought to the winery for destemming-crushing, after which they undergo alcoholic fermentation, using only indigenous yeasts, in horizontal tanks at a controlled temperature of a maximum of 29 °C with maceration on the skins with a semi-submerged cap for a period of about 18-30 days. This is followed by pressing and malolactic fermentation, which takes place in cement tanks in the spring following the harvest. At this point, the wine is aged for at least 48 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, then bottled and continues its maturation in a bottle for an additional 12 months before release.

Cavallotto's Barolo "Vignolo" Riserva shows a deep garnet red colour to the eye. Intense aromas of ripe and jammy fruit appear on the nose, including cherry, raspberry, blackberry and currant, with floral notes of rose and dried wildflowers, spicy hints of liquorice, coffee, cocoa bean and a slight balsamic menthol imprint on the finish. In the mouth, it is decisive, enveloping and refined, characterized by a beautiful sapidity and soft, silky tannins already well integrated on the palate. Cavallotto winery's Vignolo is an elegant, broad and energetic expression, a very fine and harmonious Barolo that prefers the openness of the fruit and thus represents the easiest Reserve to drink, the most approachable right from the start precisely because of these characteristics.