2021 Barolo Bricco Boschis

The organic Cavallotto 2021 Barolo Bricco Boschis shows tightness and firmness at this young age, and we can expect this pretty wine to soften and unwind slowly with bottle evolution. There are aromas of tart cherry, redcurrant, iris root and sweet spice delicately layered over a solid, medium-plus mouthfeel. However, what stands out most in the Bricco Boschis is the extreme focus and sharpness of its fruit flavors. This 7.3-hectare site has 45-year-old vines that enjoy panoramic southeast and southwest exposures at 230 to 350 meters in elevation. This wine ages in Slavonian oak casks for 36 months (both 20-hectoliter and 100-hectoliter foudre). Production is 22,000 bottles and 1,000 magnums.

Castiglione Falletto. Cask sample but of the final blend. Lustrous crimson. It echoes the 2020 Bricco Boschis with its cranberry and garden-herb notes and a touch of tamarind. Still embryonic and, with aeration, becomes pure and focused raspberry fruit. Captivating, racy acidity over cranberry and raspberry fruit on a layer of super-fine, tactile tannins, increasing even more the wine’s complexity. Very long and wired and almost linear. (WS)

Castiglione Falletto. Cask sample. Opened the previous day. Just mid ruby. A cloud of cherry and raspberry spiked with earthy, stony notes and a hint of white pepper. Compact palate with a core of sour-cherry and raspberry fruit firmly wrapped up in gravelly, long tannins. Needs much more time. Long but slow. A masterpiece in the making. (WS)