Cavallotto 2010 Riservas
Just when you think you can relax after purchasing a slew of great wines from a big-time vintage, along come the special/riserva bottlings and you find yourself faced with another set of decisions.
When it comes to Barolo, other than Conterno Monfortino, there are really only two other 'late release' wines that I put in the must-pay-attention-to column and those are the two Riserva bottlings from Cavallotto.
If you've been reading my emails for a few years, you know that Cavallotto's Barolos are hands down some of my favorite wines on the market. The style of Cavallotto is, for me, the perfect snapshot of what great, powerful, traditional Barolo is all about. The deep, dark Nebbiolo fruit, the earth, the muscular frame -- they all scream Barolo to me.
Cavallotto has always flown under the radar. Even now, after it has gained considerable esteem over the last decade, it's still overlooked by many collectors. There are many reasons for that, but I've always maintained that one of the biggest is that there is so little of it on the market after its initial release. In other words, there aren't many older bottles of it hanging around for people to drink and realize just how profoundly awesome they are.
Those who buy them hold onto them, and the estate never really offers any library releases. There just isn't enough to go around.
These two 2010s, the Riserva Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe and Riserva Vignolo, are stunning wines -- powerful, densely structured, wildly complex...classic Cavallotto.
The San Giuseppe is from a single plot within the Cavallotto's Bricco Boschis cru and the Vignolo is from a separate vineyard of the same name. Giuseppe always showcases the muscle of Bricco Boschis while Vignolo tends a bit more towards elegance...within the Cavallotto power spectrum, of course.
If you're not planning on spending $600/btl on 2010 Monfortino, if you can even find it that is, here's your last chance to get your hands on some truly amazing, old-school Riserva Barolo from a benchmark vintage.
When, some 25+ years from now, the true merits of all of these 2010 Barolos can really be measured, I maintain that those who bought Cavallotto will come out the happiest.
The wines will be delicious beyond words and you'll also be one of the few who made the 'smart buy' while these wines were still totally under-appreciated.
2010 CAVALLOTTO RISERVAS (Pre-Arrival, October 2016)
