2018 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe, Piedmont

Aged in Slavonian oak botti for an impressive 60 months, the organic 2018 Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe is the big gun from vintner Alfio Cavallotto and his merry team in Castiglione Falletto. This wine is impossibly complex and deep with savory knots that are tied into fabric or rich dark fruit. The bouquet opens to blackberry, plum cola, dried herb, spice and a lingering floral note of lilac or violet. To my palate, the Riserva Vignolo has a little more vertical lift and minerality in this vintage. The Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe is more about heft and texture, with dusty tannin. Production is 7,222 bottles.

96 points Monica Larner robertparker.com Drink 2026-2048

From the heart of Castiglione Falletto, the Vigna San Giuseppe parcel represents the most profound expression of Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschis estate, reserved only for vintages capable of long life. Farmed organically for decades, the vineyard sits on limestone and marl that naturally produce Nebbiolo of density, perfume and formidable structure. This Riserva is not designed for early pleasure but for slow revelation, a wine shaped by time, soil and uncompromising traditional practice.

Fermentation is long and patient, extracting deep tannin and aromatic complexity, followed by extended ageing in large cask where the wine settles into harmony. Nothing is rushed. Cavallotto’s philosophy is that greatness comes from restraint and duration, allowing the vineyard to speak without cosmetic polish.

Garnet with brick edged highlights, the bouquet opens in waves, dried rose, sour cherry and blood orange layered with tar, tobacco, leather and balsamic spice. With air it grows darker and more haunting. The palate is full bodied and monumental, carrying concentrated red fruit inside a frame of dense, chalky tannins. A vibrant acid spine keeps the wine alive, driving flavours of cherry, truffle and mineral notes through an endlessly persistent finish. The texture is powerful yet noble, built for decades rather than years.

It pairs beautifully with braised beef, wild game, truffle rich dishes and aged cheeses. While already complex with extended decanting, it will evolve effortlessly for thirty years or more, deepening into earthy and savoury complexity.

This is Barolo at its most architectural and timeless, a Riserva that rewards patience with extraordinary depth.