2004 Vietti Barolo Castiglione

Vietti's 2004 Barolo Castiglione is superb. This impressively rich, concentrated Barolo is fresh and perfumed, with plenty of sweet fruit supported y awesome structure and power. With air delicate notes of herbs and tobacco emerge, adding further complexity. With this effort, the Castiglione bottling takes an important step in Currado's plan to make this wine much closer in quality to his single-vineyard offerings. No longer the accessible easy going wine it once was, the 2004 is a big, big wine. The Castiglione is made from a variety of plots, many of which are too small to vinify separately for purely practical reasons. These include Bricco Fiasco, Ravera, Fossati, Bussia and Le Coste (Monforte).

Vietti’s 2004 Barolo Castiglione is superb. This impressively rich, concentrated Barolo is fresh and perfumed, with plenty of sweet fruit supported by awesome structure and power. With air delicate notes of herbs and tobacco emerge, adding further complexity. With this effort, the Castiglione bottling takes an important step in Currado’s plan to make this wine much closer in quality to his single-vineyard offerings. No longer the accessible easy going wine it once was, the 2004 is a big, big wine. The Castiglione is made from a variety of plots, many of which are too small to vinify separately for purely practical reasons. These include Bricco Fiasco, Ravera, Fossati, Bussia and Le Coste (Monforte). Anticipated maturity: 2010-2022. Importer: Remy Cointreau USA, New York, NY; tel. (212) 424-2204

Good full red. Explosive nose offers black raspberry, smoke, dried flowers, espresso, menthol, tar and truffle; more complex than past vintages of this blend. Suave, broad and dry, with excellent inner-mouth energy thanks to fresh acidity. The tannins build on the back end, but pepper and spice notes give lift to the long finish.