2017 Barolo Castelletto
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Monforte d'Alba. Lustrous, concentrated ruby with orange tinges. Tea leaves, shy cherry and a suggestion of garden herbs. Brooding cherry-liqueur note and a hint of gingerbread. Concentrated palate with bags of sweet-sour cherry fruit and lots of coating tannins. Lots of stuffing but not heavy or sweet. Ready now. (WS)
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Attractive sweet berries with some wet-earth, crushed-stone and lavender undertones. Full-bodied with a solid core of fruit and a tight, linear tannin backbone. Itâs rather muscular, yet at the same time tight, integrated and polished. A fantastic Castelletto. Try after 2025.
Dried flowers, potpourri and aromas of crushed stone open the bouquet of the 2017 Barolo Castelletto. This is a nicely balanced expression of Nebbiolo that shows some heat, intensity and density but also leaves room for nuanced tones of spice, crushed white pepper and limestone. This is an elegant and lasting wine from the not-always-easy 2017 vintage. In the end, this edition of the Castelletto offers a terrific interpretation of a hot and dry vintage. This was another release of 6,500 bottles.
The 2017 Barolo Castelletto is fabulous. It is also the wine in this range that feels the least marked by heat. Red/purplish fruit, blood orange, mint, spice and lavender all grace this beautifully translucent, expressive Barolo. There is some tannin that needs to soften - this is Monforte after all - but all the elements are impeccably balanced.