Barolo DOCG Brunate 2015 Vietti

The Barolo Brunate was not made in 2014 because of hail damage. Instead, all the fruit was diverted to the Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco instead. This newest release, the 2015 Barolo Brunate, definitely makes up for the lost ground. This is an explosive and absolutely exuberant expression of Nebbiolo from a vineyard site in La Morra near M. Marengo’s property. Vietti farms two parcels here, a higher side of the vineyard and a lower one (near Damilano and Ceretto). These lower parts of Brunate perform very nicely in the cooler vintages. Instead, this warm vintage expression puts a lot of its fruit depth and personality upfront in a confident and no-fuss manner. You absolutely know what you are getting here, even at the first sniff of the bouquet. The wine proceeds to open and blossom before your nose, offering dark fruit, rose, spice and a very linear mineral tone at the back. That linear flinty note is just terrific. Some 3,600 were produced.

I tasted these wines just before lunch hour. Luca Currado always prepares two bottles of each sample for my tasting. One was opened at 10 a.m. (so about three hours earlier), and the second was opened just prior to being poured into the glass. The notes published here represent an edited version with reflections and comments from both bottles. Vietti likes to release his wines when they are in a more reductive state, so this two-bottle approach is much appreciated by critics like me because you gain a much better understanding of the possible evolution of each wine poured.

This has a rather reserved nose with dried-herb, rosehip, potpourri and light cedary aromas, ahead of fragrant dried cherries. The palate has quite dense and smoothly rendered, ripe tannins that deliver a long, composed and approachable Barolo. Drink or hold.

This savory red delivers balsamic aromas and flavors of wild rosemary, juniper, eucalyptus and tobacco, revolving around a core of cherry, strawberry, graphite and licorice notes. Firm and sinewy on the finish, with an aftertaste of ripe, sweet fruit. Excellent length. Best from 2023 through 2043. 304 cases made, 73 cases imported.

The 2015 Barolo Brunate is powerful and dense in the glass, with plenty of Brunate tannin that enshrouds the palate. Iron, smoke, grilled herb, menthol and spice notes add complexity to the dark, sepia-toned fruit. The 2015 is a baby. It will benefit from several years in bottle and then drink well to age 25-30, perhaps beyond. This is the first vintage made from Vietti's expanded holdings following the acquisition of a parcel that formerly went to Andrea Oberto.