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96
JANUARY 2024
Vietti Barolo Riserva Villero DOCG 2016
The 2016 Barolo Riserva Villero is a dense, packed wine. Black cherry, plum, licorice, leather and incense add to an impression of brooding, virile intensity. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 clearly needs time. Even so, my belief remains what it has always been—that Villero is not the best vineyard in the Vietti range. That is even more apparent today, given the new sites that have been added to the range. The logic of making the estate's Riserva, theoretically the estate's top wine, from this site has always escaped me. That is more true today than ever, given the elite sites Vietti has added to their range in recent years.
98+
JANUARY 2025
Vietti Barolo Ravera DOCG 2021
You could argue that this is the wine with the fasting growing quality trajectory because this vineyard site is one of those rare places in the appellation that appears to improve despite (or more likely because of) a changing climate. Ravera enjoys an open panorama (at 400 to 440 meters in elevation) that extends to the snow-capped Alps and benefits from cooler air currents, coupled with an amazing quality of light that you notice with the naked eye. The 2021 Barolo Ravera saw its fruit harvested later than the other wines, on October 11th, and continued with a classic Vietti-style fermentation with 20-plus days of skin contact. Simply put, what Ravera offers is complexity (and strength) with hints of bergamot, citrus, herbs, mineral and salt over a tightly concentrated mouthfeel. The quality of the tannins and the freshness of this 2021 are impressive, and that citrusy note continues with tangerine skin and kumquat. Production is 8,700 bottles.
98
JANUARY 2025
Vietti Barolo Monvigliero DOCG 2021
Lots of violets, cola and blueberries on the nose, complemented by a clay pot note. Fascinating aromatics. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with polished tannins. A cohesive and complete wine that’s angular and incisive, with subtlety, precision and elegance. Lots of personality in each detail. It needs at least four years to soften. But what a wine.
91
JANUARY 2025
Vietti “Trevìe” Barbera d’Asti DOCG 2022
The 2022 Barbera d'Asti Trevie is a gorgeous entry-level offering from Vietti. In this warm, very dry vintage some of the intense savoriness and minerality of Asti is pushed into the background a bit while the fruit is very much up-front. That makes for a super-appealing Barbera that will drink well right out of the gate. Red plum, chalk, mint, white pepper, blood orange and floral overtones are front and center.
95
OCTOBER 2024
Vietti Barolo Monvigliero DOCG 2020
Top notes of rose, strawberry and cherry are underscored by earth, menthol, iron and tobacco flavors in this elegant yet intense red. Fluid, with a texture that borders on viscous and excellent definition on the long, complex finish. Best from 2027 through 2045.
92
JANUARY 2025
Vietti “Trevìe” Barbera d’Alba DOC 2022
The 2022 Barbera d'Alba Trevie is a heady, explosive wine. Succulent dark red cherry, plum, mocha, pomegranate, mocha and new leather are amplified to the maximum. This fleshy, opulent Barbera packs a serious punch yet also retains a good deal of freshness. It’s a superb wine from Vietti.
96
JANUARY 2025
Vietti Barbaresco Roncaglie DOCG 2021
Past vintages of this wine were called Roncaglie Masseria, but the word Masseria has been removed. The Vietti 2021 Barbaresco Roncaglie draws its fruit from inclined vineyards that produce fruit with finesse and elegance. This pretty wine opens to a note of fragrant flower or heritage rose that accompanies you over a long, silky close. In a good vintage like 2021, vintners could push skin macerations a little longer. This wine saw 25 days on the skins compared to 22 days in the 2022 vintage. Vietti recently purchased land in Rabajà, a site that produces profound wines, and this plot in Roncaglie has a greater presence of sand in its soils, creating more floral and delicate expressions instead. This matures in large oak casks for 24 months, and production is 6,066 bottles.
97
JANUARY 2025
Vietti Barolo Lazzarito DOCG 2021
Fruit for this wine comes from a three-hectare parcel in Serralunga d'Alba near the village, with south and southwestern exposures in a small amphitheater. The soils in this area are older and thus more evolved, but they always create wines of strong character. The Vietti 2021 Barolo Lazzarito is easy to identify thanks to its salty mineral finish, which is almost metallic in taste, and its bright hints of sweet rosemary and wild herb. These delicate high notes form pretty framing to a dark core of elegant fruit. The estate counts five vineyards in Serralunga d'Alba, but Lazzarito is the only MGA bottling. Production is a bit larger here, with 10,363 bottles made this vintage.
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