Vietti, Barolo Castiglione, Piedmont, Italy, 2021

Overview of the Wine
The history of the Vietti winery traces its roots back to the 19th Century. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, however, did the Vietti name become a winery offering its own wines in bottle. Patriarch Mario Vietti, starting from 1919 made the first Vietti wines, selling most of the production in Italy. His most significant achievement was to transform the family farm, engaged in many fields, into a grape-growing and wine-producing business.

Then, in 1952, Alfredo Currado (Luciana Vietti’s husband) continued to produce high quality wines from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. The Vietti winery grew to one of the top-level producers in Piemonte and was one of the first wineries to export its products to the USA market.

Alfredo was one of the first to select and vinify grapes from single vineyards (such as Brunate, Rocche and Villero). This was a radical concept at the time, but today virtually every vintner making Barolo and Barbaresco wines offers "single vineyard" or "cru-designated" wines.

Alfredo is also called the "father of Arneis" as in 1967 he invested a lot of time to rediscover and understand this nearly-lost variety. Today Arneis is the most famous white wine from Roero area, north of Barolo. Setting such a fine example with Arneis, even fellow vintners as far away those on the west coast of the United States now are cultivating and producing Arneis!

With 35 hectares of vineyards, Vietti expects to not only increase production, but having greater control over the vineyards, looks to continually improve from a qualitative perspective. It is poised to excel well into the 21st Century.

Grape / Blend
100% Nebbiolo

Origin
Piedmont, Italy

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Vietti Barolo Castiglione is a ruby-red color with medium intensity. The nose is explosive, opulent, seductive and striking. Notes of plum, red ripe black and sour cherries, blackberry, rose petal, and tobacco. On the palate, the flavor is classic, rich and potent, with balsamic and slightly spicy notes. The tannins are well integrated.

93 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Barolo Castiglione is a ruby red color and is floral on the nose, opening to perfumed aromas of roses, fresh cherries, sweet herbs, and dusty earth. Medium-bodied, it has a lovely structure and is very well-balanced, and I love the apricot-noted fruit on the finish. The fruit is more present than in the 2020 version of the same wine. A fantastic vintage for this entry-level wine, I love it already and would be happy to grab a few cases to enjoy over the coming 15 years. (Moving forward, due to newly implemented labeling restrictions, they are going to remove “Castiglione” from the front label, and it will only be on noted the back label.)

Product size: 750ml