Lifted and savory aromatics initially jump out of the 2015 Barolo Riserva Vignolo, with graphite, incense, brushed leather, and dried sour cherry. Full and balanced, with dried currant, tobacco leaf, and clove, it has a powerful, noble structure. This is a wine with layered complexity that is hard to pin down. Drink 2024-2050.
Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JD
The Cavallotto family’s parcel in the Cru of Vignolo has some of their oldest vines, as this parcel was planted in 1948 and 1966. The 2015 Riserva from Vignolo was given twenty-six days of maceration and the same four years in Botti and one year in bottle prior to release. It too comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol and offers up an excellent aromatic constellation of sappy black cherries, cigar smoke, gamebird, camphor, gently chalky soil tones, fresh oregano and an exotic floral tone of lavender in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and almost bottomless at the core, with lovely sappiness, excellent mineral drive, ripe, buried and plenty chewy tannins, good acids and grip and a long, complex and seamlessly balanced finish that augurs nothing but pure magic once this wine is fully ready to drink! The old vines here give this wine a sense of sappiness that is truly lovely, coupled with a structural refinement that the Bricco Boschis cannot quite keep pace with in the 2015 vintage. Great, great juice. (Drink between 2035-2085)
John Gilman | 97 JG
Aromas of leather, scorched earth, grilled herb and camphor come to the forefront along with whiffs of hazelnut. Savory and full-bodied, the compelling palate delivers dried cherry, orange zest, black licorice and baking spice set against youthfully firm but refined tannins. Drink 2025–2035.
Kerin O’Keefe | 97 KO
Aromas of leather, scorched earth, grilled herb and camphor come to the forefront along with a whiff of hazelnut. Savory and full-bodied, the compelling palate delivers dried cherry, orange zest, black licorice and baking spice set against youthfully firm but refined tannins. Drink 2025–2035
Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE
Ripe and packed with cherry, strawberry, wild herb and mineral flavors. Vibrant and beautifully balanced, showing a long fruity and herbal aftertaste. Delivers fine poise and harmony on an elegant frame. Best from 2023 through 2042. 580 cases made, 195 cases imported.
Wine Spectator
| 96 WS
The 2015 Barolo Riserva Vignolo is a beautifully generous and richly layered wine. It opens first to dark fruit, cassis and dried cherry, but the bouquet takes you on an aromatic journey that remains very faithful to the basics of Barolo. The fruit cedes to dark spice, toasted hazelnut and dusty earth or potting soil. The wine is quite interesting and compelling in terms of mouthfeel. The structure shows a tannic pitch that is sufficient to tie it neatly together. Yet the fleshiness and generosity of the fruit serve to give it more volume and dimension. Fruit comes from a 1.96-hectare south-facing site on the Cavallotto family property in Castiglione Falletto with 40-year-old vines. Production is 7,326 bottles.
Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP
The 2015 Barolo Riserva Vignolo is a powerful, tightly wound wine that is going to need a few years to soften. Its gorgeous, translucent elegance is impossible to miss. Sweet red berry fruit, gravel, rose petal, mint, licorice and darker earthy tones all run through this compelling, beautifully layered Riserva. Impressive.
Vinous Media | 95 VM
This talented guy, Alfio Cavallotto, is a faithful example of traditional viticulture in Barolo. Vignolo is a two-hectare vineyard in Castiglione Falletto where, according to the producer, ’in the warm vintages the vines could develop better balance compared with the sandier soil of Bricco Boschis’. A dark profile of prunes and tar is accompanied by tobacco and chocolate, and possibly stained with Brett. It’s full on the palate with firm, dusty tannins, crisp acidity and a slightly drying finish. A powerful, old-fashioned Barolo.
Decanter Magazine | 92 DEC
