Burlotto Castelletto 2018

Introducing Burlotto Castelletto 2018 – the latest addition to the Burlotto estate. Fabio has been thinking about expanding his lineup for some time, looking mainly at vineyards in the south-east part of Barolo. At the beginning of 2018, opportunity came knocking. A plot in Castelletto had become available, and Fabio acquired about 1 hectares of vineyard. Which plot, you might ask? If you imagine the Castelletto hill, it’s located along the wooded area, towards the bottom. For a more accurate description, you can check out the zoom session with Fabio, where he talks about his new wine!

Castelletto

Castelletto is located in Monforte, near Gramolere, at around 250m.a.s.l. The highest part has looser, more sandy soil, while the lower part has more compact soil, giving the wine a bit more powerful tannins. The wooded area creates a slightly cooler microclimate than in Mosconi, perhaps giving the wine less intensity. At least compared to other Monforte Barolo’s, like Mosconi or Gramolere.

Barolo 2018

As Fabio said, “I adore the 18’s”. I too adore the 18’s. Don’t get me wrong, I like the 17. And 16. And 15. And 14. I think each vintage has their own characteristics, and will honestly go so far as to say that there is no such thing as a bad vintage. And it seems, on this, Fabio and I agree.

Because we pay a lot of attention in the vineyard and in the cellar, I think that it’s difficult to have a bad vintage
Fabio

According to Fabio, he had more work in the vineyards in 2018 than 2017. The spring was more humid, which led to more mildew. The wetness also led to more vegetation and good growth. Overall, the 18’s are quite approachable, gentle and elegant. Although Fabio finds it hard to predict the age of a wine, he thinks the 17 might age a bit better than 18. But as he also said, “it’s important to have wines that are more drinkable in the beginning.”