2016 Barolo Gattera

Two thousand sixteen is a transition vintage, as it is the year Mauro Veglio joined forces with his nephew, Alessandro Veglio. At a time when too many estates split up, often unwittingly becoming sub-scale, the Veglios have made the opposite decision. The first year for the Mauro Veglio winery in its second generation is 2017. In 2016, the straight Barolo and the Gattera are blends from the wines Mauro and Alessandro Veglio originally made alone. The Paiagallo is Alessandro Veglio's wine, and the other Barolos are the wines readers have come to know here. With the exception of the Paiagallo, the single-vineyard Barolos were done in rotary fermenters and aged in French oak, with 20-30% new wood, less than in prior years. Stylistically, the wines have been moving towards more finesse. The 2016s are terrific across the board.