2017 Barolo Monvigliero

This is another stellar set of wines from Burlotto and proprietor Fabio Alessandria. The 2017s are textbook wines for the year. Acid, tannin, extract and alcohols are pretty similar to 2016, but it is the integration of those components that is quite different. The 2017s were fermented in open-top wood vats for three weeks, with manual pumpovers and punchdowns. The exception, as always, was the Monvigliero, which saw 50 days on the skins (a bit less than normal), including submerged cap maceration. All of the Barolos spent close to three years in cask. "It's a vintage in which the differences between younger and older vineyards was much more obvious than in stronger years like 2016 when everything is high quality," Alessandria added.