Vietti Barbaresco Roncaglie 2019
£115.75
The wine
Roncaglie lies in the Barbaresco commune of Barbaresco itself, on marl that lends breadth without heaviness. Refined, rich and full-bodied with wonderful balance. Red and dark fruits, along with oak spice, are enveloped by soft, silky tannins and a striking hint of almond on the finish.
Barbaresco is Nebbiolo grown a little lower and warmer than Barolo, closer to the moderating influence of the Tanaro river, and it ripens earlier as a result. The appellation requires only twenty-six months of ageing against Barolo's thirty-eight, and the wines are typically approachable sooner while giving up nothing in perfume. Roncaglie is a well-regarded site on the northern side of the commune, giving breadth and a characteristic nutty note.
The producer
Vietti
View all Vietti winesVietti is one of the defining names of Piedmont, based in the village of Castiglione Falletto at the heart of Barolo. The family have grown grapes here since the nineteenth century, but the estate as we know it was shaped by Alfredo Currado, who married Luciana Vietti in 1957 and spent the next four decades changing what Piedmont thought possible.
Two things made his name. In 1961 he bottled Barolo from the Rocche di Castiglione vineyard on its own, one of the first single-cru Barolos ever released, at a time when almost everything was blended across the commune. The idea that individual sites deserved their own bottling is now orthodoxy; then it was heresy. He also rescued Arneis, the white grape of the Roero, which had fallen to a handful of rows and was days from disappearing altogether.
The range here runs from Roero Arneis and Timorasso through Barbera and Langhe Nebbiolo to seven Barolo crus and a Barbaresco, each farmed and vinified separately. Vietti labels have carried commissioned artwork since 1974, which is why no two look quite alike.
