2014 - Barolo Monvigliero, Comm. G.B. Burlotto

Fabio Alessandria of Comm. G.B. Burlotto tells me that he always believed in the controversial 2014 vintage. He never had any doubts regarding the inherent quality buried deep within this difficult vintage with its temperature extremes and humidity-based diseases. The 2014 Barolo Monvigliero ultimately proves to be a fragile and delicate wine with pure essence of wild rose and violet. Monvigliero is known as "the perfumed vineyard," thanks to those beautiful floral nuances. While contemplating the bouquet, you feel like you are standing in the middle of a rose garden. The wine offers loose-knit structure with fine tannins that are polished, etched and very linear. Some 7,500 bottles were made in 2014, down from an average annual production of 8,000.

The 2014 Barolo Monvigliero is quite refined and gracious, although it is also surprisingly dark, dense and concentrated by this wine's standards. A shy, reticent wine, the 2014 is going to need time in bottle to flesh out, especially in the midpalate. I have seen this with other vintages, and expect that it will be the case here as well. The precision, clarity and silkiness that are so typical of Monvigliero start to emerge as the wine opens up in the glass. Readers should plan on being patient. If that is not possible, try to taste the 2014 as soon as possible, because these wines have a tendency to shut down hard post-bottling. As always, Monvigliero is fermented with 100% whole clusters.

Verduno. Tasted blind. Mid ruby. Serious nose of cherry and soaked stalks. Concentrated, perfectly built with integrated acidity. Still a little backward, but will provide plenty of pleasure in due course. (WS)