MCF Rare Wine

Riserva 2013s from Cavallotto
 
I'd been eagerly waiting to taste Cavallotto's Barolo Riserva Vignolo and Riserva San Giuseppe from 2013 ever since the 2013 Bricco Boschis came out a couple of years ago.

I had the 2013 BB a few times after it arrived and it was one of the most firmly structured Briccos I can remember.  Now, of course, Cavallotto's Barolo are always fiercely structured, but the dark, meaty, mineral-packed fruit they usually display typically balances out the backbone.

While there was a nice amount of that dark, mineral fruit, the nature of the 2013 vintage was on full display in the way that the fruit was smaller in scale than normal, while the intensity of the structure was a bit more pronounced.

I thought it would certainly be one of the more 'classic' versions of Bricco Boschis that we'd seen in a long while, and it would definitely be one of the longest lived.

So, with that memory in the back of my mind, I was anticipating some rather 'linear' wines when I tasted the 2013 Riservas...and, well...linear indeed.

To get it out of the way off the bat - the 2013 Riservas from Cavallotto, especially the Vigna San Giuseppe, are some of the most tightly wound young Barolos I've ever tasted.

Period.

And that's definitely not a bad thing...in fact I think it's a pretty amazing thing.  2013 is a classic vintage, in that 2004 kinda of way - the wines aren't as dense in terms of fruit, but, by and large, they have spines of coiled, strapping tannins that will allow for many years of evolution and, when they do reach their apex, they're going to be unbelievably balanced, aromatically refined and showing all kinds of nuance.

The Riserva Vignolo 2013, with its broader, roastier, meatier profile offers a bit more right now (as is usually the case), but just a bit...

...a bit.

Then we have what is, pound-for-pound, always one of my favorite Barolo on the market, the Riserva Vigna San Giuseppe, and this 2013 is basically a sequoia trunk (with no leaves at all, of course) growing out of a gravel quarry.  The is the tightest, firmest, most massively tannic/mineral Barolo I've had in recent memory...

...I mean, San Giuseppe is always tannic and mineral, but holy smokes!

To be fair, they probably have already gone into 'shutdown' mode in bottle, which is only furthering the imposing expression, but given how extra-structured the Bricco Boschis was, this isn't a surprise at all.

In any case, I find both of these wines are extremely impressive and exciting, and, given their proper mellowing-out time, they're going to take their place among the all-time greats.

So, here's to patience...

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