2017 G.B. Burlotto, Barolo DOCG, Piemonte, Italy.
The bright ruby/garnet 2017 G.B. Burlotto Barolo normale is a spectacular wine, one of my favorites of the vintage I’ve tried, with lovely definition of flavors, supple tannins and depth of complexity in the glass, showing off a classic array of pure Nebbiolo red fruits, savory notes and sublime long finish. These Burlotto Barolo offerings are getting pretty scarce and I’m thrilled and grateful to have been able to enjoy this fabulous bottle, thanks to my friend Alex Lallos, a long time Burlotto fan himself, who shared this from his personal collection. The full bodied palate delivers red currant, damson plum, cherry and reduced strawberry fruits, along with dried herbs, meaty notes, tar, black licorice, sandalwood, delicate floral incense and forest floor. While polished, lushly drinkable and ripe in tannin, there’s still grip and fine structure that should allow this beauty to age another decade with ease, I was very impressed with the balance and length on display. Burlotto’s regular Barolo is crafted from various parcels with different micro terroirs, resulting in a fuller and more complete wine with all hand picked 100% de-stemmed grapes crushed and the must moved by gravity into open French oak vats for fermentation. The winery says that during the maceration period, delicate pumping over and punch-downs are carried out daily to extract flavor, color and structure. Temperature control is key to preserve crisp detail and aromatics here and the wine is aged in large well used French casks for a minimum of 20 to 23 months before bottling, after which the wine is rested another 9 to 12 months prior to release. Burlotto is considered a very old school and traditional producer, even though they prefer French oak, and the wines typically show a stylish rustic charm, and this 2017, a warmer year, is very sultry and seductive.
I’ve long admired the Burlotto wines, especially their Freisa, Barbera, Dolcetto and the very rare Pelaverga, a lesser known native varietal, a wine that is a highlight of the Veduno area, especially Burlotto’s. The historic Comm. G.B. Burlotto, founded in 1850, is maybe the most important and most desirable winery from Barolo’s Verduno area and capable of producing some of Piemonte’s greatest wines. It’s noted that during his almost three quarters of a century as a winemaker (1850-1927), G.B. Burlotto pioneered bottling Barolo and selling it from the estate and his importer Rare Wine Co. says his accomplishments were rivaled only by those of Biondi-Santi and Vega Sicilia, as G.B. Burlotto achieved superstardom in his own era, at a time the wine world was dominated by French wines. Today, the Burlotto label has re-emerged as one of Piemonte’s great small producers, thanks to the brilliant traditional winemaking of Burlotto’s great-great-grandson, Fabio Alessandria, who wines are now highly coveted by collectors, making them hard to get, especially the Barolo. Coming from calcareous soils, which were formed between the Tortonian and the Messinian geological eras, with, as the winery notes, a balanced presence of clay, sand and silt that allows for good water retention, the Barolo sees plots at different elevation and exposures to capture the whole vintage, and this helps fill out the wine, even in difficult years, as this 2017 shows to near perfection. It’s been a long while since I wrote a review of Burlotto, as it has not been easy to get my hands on many of the offerings here in California, but I’ve enjoyed a few of the mentioned Freisa and Pelaverga, which I highly recommend. Like Burgundy, sadly top Barolo producers are getting nose bleed prices these days, especially the single Crus, and there’s some sticker shock on bottles like this one.
($105 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive