Visiting the Vietti Winery
@ 5 Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Castiglione Falletto,
Piedmont, Italy (7/5/2016)
After
my morning visit to the Cappellano Winery
in Serralunga d'Alba,
I had a 2:30 appointment at Vietti and plenty of time to the drive 10 minutes
or so to Castiglione Falletto and get a bite to eat.
That is, until I went the wrong way and
spent nearly an hour driving through the mountain town of Perno.
The good news is, I got to see and photograph some great views.
See Getting lost in Perno
with great views of Castiglione Falletto & Serralunga d'Alba.
Still, with a little help, I was able to arrive at close to my designated time.
Jump to the tasting notes.
For each image, I have posted a compressed (and possibly cropped) version.
Click on it to see the original, much larger image.
After a quick bite at Locando del Centro, I drove the few blocks up the hill
to Piazza Vittorio Veneto where the
castle and the
Vietti Winery are located.
Here is the castle (note that the original photo is quite large):
The clock tower and the Vietti Winery on Piazza Vittorio Veneto:
The winery gate and the view:
The winery courtyard:
The little door on the left of the building is for the tasting room
from which I would eventually emerge,
but the tour would begin on the patio to the right, then proceed down the
stairway at the corner of
the steps to the patio near the van.
I was met at the entrance by Elena Penna, wife of Luca Currado.
She showed me around the outside and gave me an overview of the history of the winery
while we stood on the patio that extends to the right overlooking the vineyards.
History of the Vietti Winery
The Vietti family has been in the wine business since at least the middle of the 19th Century,
primarily as grape growers in those days. The winery lists its founding as 1873.
Even then they owned
important vineyards such as their plot in Brunate that they still farm to this day.
Late in the 19th Century, Mario Vietti, who was trained as an engineer, moved to America
since his older brother was destined to run the family business.
He lived and worked as an engineer in Boston for over 20 years.
When his brother passed away, he returned to Castiglione Falletto to run the family farm.
Mario Vietti was innovative in a number of ways.
He began making and bottling his own wine from his own vineyards.
At that time, the family farm grew a wide variety of crops.
Mario focussed the family efforts on growing grapes and producing wines.
He planted Barbera in Scarrone which was considered a top vineyard.
This shocked the locals because Nebbiolo was considered more important for such sites.
He also bought or rented plots all around the Barolo region, which was
very hard to farm and manage back in those days with no motorized vehicles.
For these and other reasons, he was dubbed by the locals as
Il pazzo Americano
(the crazy American).
In 1957, Mario's daughter Luciana Vietti married Alfredo Currado.
In 1960, Alfredo Currado became the primary winemaker for Vietti.
Under his leadership, the Vietti winery continued to grow in size and prestige.
It was one of the first wineries in the region to export its wines to the United States.
Alfredo was one of the first to select and vinify grapes from single vineyards.
In particular, he bottled Rocche di Castiglione Falletto as a single-vineyard wine in 1961.
This was a radical concept at the time.
He later bottled single-vineyard wines from Brunate (starting in 1985?),
Lazzarito (starting in 1989),
Villero (starting in 1982?), and Masseria in Barbaresco (starting in 1971?).
All of which they still bottle today.
Alfredo (along with Bruno Giacosa) is also responsible for bringing back the Arneis grape.
By the 1960s, only a few rows of Arneis vines were left. Currado and Giacosa each
replanted this white grape and to this day, Vietti still makes one of the best.
The Currados had three children, Emanuela, Elisabetta and Luca.
In 1983 Mario Cordero, Emanuela’s husband, joined the Vietti winery.
He coordinates marketing and sales.
In 1990 Luca Currado, after training as an oenologist and getting some winemaking experience
in Bordeaux and in California, began his winemaking career at Vietti.
Luca oversees Vietti’s extensive vineyard plantings as well as handling the winemaking.
More recently Luca’s wife, Elena Penna, started to work at Vietti on the marketing
and public relations side.
As mentioned above, Elena was my host throughout my tour of the winery.
My sense from talking to Luca and tasting their wines is that during the 1990s,
Luca experimented with a variety of techniques, but that in the 2000s, he has
settled into what might be called an enlightened traditional approach with winemaking.
Under his leadership, Vietti is moving into the very top tier of Barolo and Barbaresco
producers.
Winery Tour
The patio where Elena gave me an overview of the winery's history:
Directly beyond the railing of this patio is the Scarrone vineyard.
Across the way are northern, west-facing vineyards of Serralunga d'Alba.
The clusters of buildings in the distance are the hamlets of Baudana and Cerretta.
At the bottom of this page, you'll find photos of Castiglione Falletto,
which I took
from the hamlet of Baudana on my way to dinner in Serralunga d'Alba.
(This photo is from the winery's website.)
Elena leading the way into the cellar:
Because the Vietti winery is built into the hillside of an existing historic town,
it is a complex warren of rooms, stairs and hallways that is hard to follow (without a guide).
On the winery website you can find
Google Maps "Street View" tours
of the winery.
Below I have used a few screenshots from that tour to fill out a few missing links in
my photos of my tours. It will be obvious which these are.
I don't know if the copyright belongs to Google or the winery, but it is not mine.
Note that the vertical architecture of the winery allows the wine to move through its
processes with gravity flow rather than pumps, since the fermentation takes place
one floor below ground, and the aging cellars are below that.
The Fermentation Cellar
The stairs behind the door that Elena just took us through lead down into the main
fermentation room with the large stainless steel fermentation tanks.
There is also a bottling machine on the far right.
The large stainless steel fermentation tanks on the first floor below ground level:
The Malolactic Fermentation Room
Circling back to the original staircase, we go down a short flight to the
malolactic fermentation room.
View from the malolactic fermentation room down into the new aging cellar:
The New Aging Cellar
Down another flight of stairs into the new aging cellar.
In the big botti are 2015 Barolo: Castiglione, Ravera, Lazzarito:
Looking back up at the malolactic fermentation room from the new aging cellar.
2015 Brunate botte:
Left: Villero 2015 in barriques and the blue elevator door.
Right: The elevator door open to show the tunnel to the older cellars:
Tunnel to the Old Aging Cellar
Passing through the elevator, a long tunnel to the old aging cellar.
An exposed portion of the city wall:
The Old Aging Cellar
The old aging cellar from the tunnel side:
The stairs from the old aging cellar to the botti cellar:
A view of the old aging cellar from the stairs:
Some bottles in the old aging cellar and a closer shot of one the
support columns for the old town:
The Botti Cellar
Ravera 2014 and 2015 in botti.
The Botti Cellar with barriques of 2015 Castiglione in the middle:
The Historic Cellar
Passing back through the old aging cellar, we go up a flight of
metal stairs to the oldest part of the cellar:
The first part of the historic cellar from the top of the stairs:
Lots of barrels in the historic cellar:
More barrels in the next room of the historic cellar,
as Elena goes into the 3rd room:
The 3rd room (really just a hallway) of the historic cellar
has some extremely old bottles:
More very old bottles:
There are also stairs to the street and a tunnel to the castle:
Middle photo by Dan Moritz.
Elena told me that when Luca was a boy, the castle was abandoned, so he and his friends would
go through this tunnel to play in the castle. I immediately thought back to my childhood
and how much my friends and I would have loved that!
Up to the Tasting Room
At this point we went back the way we had come all the way through the tunnel:
From the end of the tunnel, we took the elevator back up to fermentation floor:
We then headed up the stairs you see on the far right (above) to the tasting room:
Tasting Notes
These wines were tasted between 4 and 5pm.
There was a couple from Chicago who got to the tasting room shortly before I did.
They are also big fans of the Vietti wines.
Unfortunately, I did not get their names.
Where available, I have included some of the winemaker's notes on each wine in
brackets after my note.
Flight 1.
I think these bottles had been opened that morning.
-
2015 Vietti Roero Arneis - Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero
Glorious fresh floral bouquet. Delicious, crisp, and fresh.
A touch of sweetness on the finish. Lovely stuff. (91 points)
[The grapes are selected from vineyards located in the middle of the Roero area,
in Santo Stefano Roero. The vineyards are planted with 4500-5000 plants per hectare.
Beginning in mid-September, grapes from 25-year-old vines in Santo Stefano Roero
are harvested, pressed and clarified. Alcoholic fermentation occurs in stainless steel
autoclave at lower temperature (10-12°C, 50-53° F) to preserve some natural CO2
from the fermentation.
Aging: There is no malolactic fermentation which preserves acidity and freshness.
The wine is held in stainless steel tanks until bottling.
Alcohol: 13.80% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.40 g/L. Total dry extract: 17.60 g/L.]
-
2013 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Lovely perfume of cherries. Gorgeous sweet fruit.
Hits the mark as it is authentic Nebbiolo meant to be drunk young.
Very tasty. (91 points)
[The Perbacco is made from parcels all planted in the Barolo region.
The average age of the vines is 35 years and the plants per hectare are 4500.
All vineyards are vinified and aged separately until the moment we select the
casks/Crus/Vineyards used then for our Barolo Castiglione.
18-28 days of alcoholic fermentation between 28-35°C (82-95°F).
It follows the malolactic in stainless steel tank and/or barrique.
Aging: Total period of ageing is 2 years: 4 months in barriques, period in which the
natural malolactic fermentation develops, and 20 months in big casks.
Couple of months in stainless steel tanks before the bottling.
The work in the vineyards, the yield/hectare, the vinification system and the aging period
for the Perbacco are the same as for our Barolo Castiglione;
Perbacco is practically a selection in the 3rd year of aging of the wines/vineyards that
show an elegance and a readiness to be drunk without a longer time of ageing as happens
for our Barolo Castiglione.
Alcohol: 13.70% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.25 g/L. Total dry extract: 25.70 g/L.]
-
2013 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Vigna Vecchia Scarrone -
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Ripe, intense black fruit. Long, complex, rich and tasty.
This is one I wish I could have spent more time with.
It is very young and there is a lot going on. Should age beautifully.
(92-94 points)
[The vineyard is located in the Scarrone district of Castiglione Falletto,
extending over an area of little more than one hectare (2.5 acres) facing south-east.
The vines are more than 90 years old, with 4300 plants per hectare.
The naturally low yield resulting from the age of the vines is further reduced by
stringent selection of the grapes, producing a yield in wine of around 25 hectoliters
per hectare. Vinification began with cold maceration, followed by a 16-days alcoholic
fermentation in steel vats, with pneumo-mechanical breaking up of the cap, and
racking & returning. The fermentation took place at temperatures between 26-30°C (79–86°F).
The wine then stayed on the skins for another 7 days, before being transferred into barrels
for 8 months for its malolactic fermentation.
Ageing: 10 months into a 31 hectoliters oak cask for the ageing. Bottled unfiltered.
Alcohol: 14.49% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 6.03 g/L. Total dry extract: 28.0 g/L.]
-
2012 Vietti Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza La Crena -
Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza
Really tasty. Young. Simpler than the Scarrone VV.
More of a quaffer, but very tasty. Would be great with a tomato-based dish.
(91 points)
[The grapes are selected from the single vineyard La Crena in Agliano d’Asti planted in 1932
with 4800 plants by hectare. The production per hectare is about 25 hl.
The must rests for 20 days in stainless steel tanks for the alcoholic fermentation
at 26-32°C (78-89° F) with 2-3 daily fullages in the electro pneumatically system,
"délestage" and numerous air pumping-overs.
Immediately after the alcoholic fermentation the wine is moved into oak barrels for the
malolactic fermentation.
Aging: After the malolactic fermentation, the wine is moved into French oak barrels and big
Slovenian oak casks for 16 months. Then it is assembled in steel tanks until the bottling.
Bottle unfiltered.
Alcohol: 15.27% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 6.05 g/L. Total dry extract: 30.90 g/L.]
Flight 2.
I think these bottles had been opened that morning.
-
2012 Vietti Barolo Castiglione - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Muted nose. Rich, tannic, expansive. Excellent balance. (92 points)
[The grapes are selected from vineyards located in Castiglione Falletto, Monforte,
Barolo, and Novello where the vines are planted an average of 4800 vines per hectare.
The vines are 7 to 35 years old with yields of 35 hl/ha, grown using the Guyot system.
After harvesting, the grapes are gently pressed.
Fermentation occurs in stainless steel with daily cap submersion for extraction of flavor and color.
Aging: The wine is then aged for 26 months in casks.
The wine was blended in stainless steel tanks 8 months before bottling.
Alcohol: 14.05 % Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 6.04 g/L. Total dry extract: 28.80 g/L.]
-
2012 Vietti Barbaresco Masseria - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Gorgeous strawberry nose. Surprisingly tannic.
Lots of potential and hard to judge at this stage, but there is a wow factor in there.
Needs probably 10 years to show itself. 92-94, maybe more. (92-94 points)
[The grapes are harvested from a single vineyard site in Treiso consisting of 1.4 hectares
planted with vines of an average age of 40 years and cultivated with Guyot system.
Calcareous-clayey soil with south exposure.
The must rests for 18 days in open stainless steel tanks at 30 to 32° C (86 to 89°F) for
the alcoholic fermentation, with frequent "délestage," punching down, open air pumping-over.
Aging: The malolactic occurs in barriques and the wine ends its ageing in Slovenian oak casks
for a total of 24 months. Bottled unfiltered.
Alcohol: 14.46% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.56 g/L. Total dry Extract: 28.20 g/L.}
The Castiglione was labeled upside-down, so it had to be used in the tasting room.
Flight 3: 2012 Single-Vineyard Barolos.
These were all from half bottles opened for us this afternoon.
-
2012 Vietti Barolo Rocche di Castiglione -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Gorgeous fragrant nose. A stunning, vibrant wine.
94 may look conservative down the road. Great potential here.
(94 points)
[The grapes are selected from the 47 year old vineyards in Rocche of Castiglione,
cultivated with 4600 plants per hectare and with a yield of 29 hl/ha.
After the harvest and gentle pressing, alcoholic fermentation takes place over 4 weeks
in stainless steel tanks at 30-32°C (86-90°F), with frequent pumping of the wine over
grape skins for flavor and color extraction.
Aging: After 4 weeks of malolactic fermentation in barriques, the wine is aged in
Slovenian oak casks for 31 months. Bottled unfiltered on September 2015.
14.67 Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 6.0 g/L. Total dry extract: 31.3 g/L.]
-
2012 Vietti Barolo Brunate -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
More muted nose. Silky and delicious. Lots of tension on the finish.
Seems more shut down than the Rocche at this point. (92 points)
[The grapes are selected from the historical cru Brunate, located in La Morra,
on the south side towards Barolo, with 4600 plants per hectare.
The vines are 43 years old and cultivated with Guyot system. Calcareous-clayey soil.
Grapes are gently crushed and fermented in stainless steel for 23 days at 30-32° C (86-90°F).
Daily open air pumping-over using the old system of the "submerged cap."
Malolactic fermentation in oak barrels.
Aging: The wine is aged for 32 months between French oak barrels and Slovenian oak casks.
Bottled unfiltered on July 2015.
14.37 Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.77 g/L. Total dry extract: 31.0%.]
-
2012 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Bright raspberry nose. Great gripping tannins. A powerhouse.
May take the longest of these to reach its peak. Dark and brooding on the palate.
(94 points)
[The grapes are selected from the single vineyard Lazzarito in Serralunga d’Alba,
which has 4500 plants by hectare and with an age of 39 years.
The surface is of 1.7 hectares with a low yields of 26 hl/ha. Calcareous-clay soil.
The grapes are harvested and gently pressed; their juice ferments for 27 days in
stainless steel tanks at 30-32°C (86-90°F).
Daily open air pumping-over using the old system of the "submerged cap."
Malolactic fermentation in oak barrels.
Lazzarito vineyard is one of the most famous crus of Serralunga d’Alba.
Aging: The wine is aged for 7 months in French oak barrels and 25 in Slovenian oak casks.
Bottled unfiltered on July 2015.
14.63% Alc./Volume. Total Acidity: 5.78 g/L. Total dry extract: 31.0%.]
-
2012 Vietti Barolo Ravera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Sweet red fruit fragrance. Powerful, dark and tannic.
Surprisingly dark and backward for Ravera. Seems more similar to the Lazzarito
than I would have expected, but it has this fragrance that may make it the better
wine in the long run. (94-95 points)
[From the single vineyard Ravera in Novello with 4900 plants per hectare and
between 5 and 60 years old. Ravera in Novello is a fabulous hill facing south-west,
with a calcareous-clay ground. Total surface of 2.7 hectares.
The production is 20 hectoliters per hectare.
Fermentation is 35 days in stainless steel vats, 5 of which are in cold pre-fermentation
maceration, alcoholic fermentation, and then a long post-fermentation maceration at a temperature
between 30-32°C (86-89.6°F). Daily air pumping-over using the old system called "submerged cap."
Slow malolactic fermentation in large casks almost until the end of the spring.
The wine then stays more than a year on the lees and the Co2 produced during the malolactic
fermentation in a reductive environment without sulfur.
Aging: The wine is aged for 32 months in Slovenian oak casks. Bottled unfiltered on July 2015.
Alcohol: 14.34% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 6.01 g/L. Total dry extract: 31.30 g/L.]
Flight 4: 2010 Single-Vineyard Barolos.
Pop and pour from half bottles.
-
2010 Vietti Barolo Ravera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A nose to knock your socks off. Rich, complex, just a stunning wine.
Ridiculously good. (98-100 points)
[From the single vineyard Ravera in Novello with 4900 plants per hectare and
between 5 and 60 years old. Ravera in Novello is a fabulous hill facing south-west,
with a calcareous-clay ground. Total surface of 2.7 hectares.
The production is of 20 hectoliters per hectare.
Fermentation is 35 days in stainless steel vats, 5 of which are in cold pre-fermentation
maceration, alcoholic fermentation, and then a long post-fermentation maceration
at a temperature between 30-32°C (86-89.6°F).
Daily air pumping-over using the old system called "submerged cap."
Slow malolactic fermentation in large casks almost until the end of the spring.
The wine then stays more than a year on the lees and the CO2 produced during the
malolactic fermentation in a reductive environment without sulfur.
Aging: The wine is aged for 32 months in Slovenian oak casks. Bottled unfiltered on July 2013.
Alcohol: 14.35% Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.94 g/L. Total dry extract: 31.00 g/L.]
-
2010 Vietti Barolo Rocche di Castiglione -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Heavenly nose. Rich and structured. A great wine for the long haul.
Just huge, and yet graceful. (96-98 points)
[The grapes are selected from the 46 year old vineyards in Rocche of Castiglione,
cultivated with 4600 plants per hectare and with a yield of 20 hl/ha.
After the harvest and gentle pressing, alcoholic fermentation takes place over
4 weeks in stainless steel tanks at 30-32°C (86-90°F), with frequent pumping of
the wine over grape skins for flavor and color extraction.
Aging: After 4 weeks of malolactic fermentation in barriques,
the wine is aged in Slovenian oak casks for 31 months.
Bottled unfiltered on July 2013.
14.00 Alc. by vol. Total Acidity: 5.86 g/L. Total dry extract: 30.60 g/L.]
Flight 5: 1998 Barolo Brunate.
-
1998 Vietti Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Open about one hour. Smoky nose of dark red fruit. Lovely and ready to go.
Beginning its period of maturity. If you own it, I would definitely try it.
I don't think it will get better from here. (92 points)
Luca is making great wines these days. Dare I say as good as anyone in the Langhe? I think so.
One question that came up during the tasting is that there are a lot of barriques in the winery,
but none of the Nebbiolo wines we tasted of oak.
Luca pointed out that half their production is Barbera which does spend 6-8 months
aging in barriques.
The Nebbiolo wines do malolactic fermentation in barrique because Luca likes to do battonage
during malo. (Battonage just means stirring the wine.)
Some of the Nebbiolo wines do some aging in barrique, but never new barriques.
All are then aged in large botti.
The woman from the couple in the same tasting session and Luca & Elena
all laughing about the 2012 Castiglione with the upside-down label.
The guy from the couple. Unfortunately, I did not write down their names.
Views of Castiglione Falletto from Baudana
After my visit to Vietti, I was meeting a friend for dinner in Serralunga d'Alba.
On my way there, I passed through the hamlet of Baudana (which can be seen in the photos
at the top of this page from the patio of Vietti).
There I was able to get some long distance shots of Castiglione Falletto and the Vietti winery:
In the last 2 photos, it is easy to spot the tallest tower of the Castle in the center.
To the right of this, you can see the yellow clock tower with the pointed roof.
Everything you see between and below these two towers is the Vietti winery.
In particular, you can see the patio where Elena and I began our tour on the right
below the pointed tower. The base of it has a yellowish color.
The vineyard you see below the town is Scarrone.
Next
Next was dinner with Bill Klapp at Centro Storico
in Serralunga d'Alba.
All original content © Ken Vastola