Vietti, ‘Villero’ Riserva Barolo 2012

Critics:

“This is the 13th edition that Vietti has come out with, over the span of 38 years, of this stunning Riserva, a wine that ultimately is produced only about once every four years or so. It was not made after the previous harvest, in 2011. The recent editions have been nothing short of spectacular, earning 100-point scores in both 2007 and 2009 and 99 points in its latest appearance, 2010. It’s a series that has set the bar extraordinarily high, and this 2012 Barolo Riserva Villero is a little less exciting in comparison. However, the wine holds its own as one of the most beautiful in the entire appellation and one of the best in the somewhat lackluster vintage. Balsamic and truffle notes pepper the palate of this handsome Barolo, but it’s just really hard to reproduce that magic, release after release, for a wine regularly expected to sell at several hundred dollars apiece.” -97 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

“This delivers a handy play between dried cherries, tar and pomegranate and fresh rose petals and citrus with lilac undertones; it’s a very fresh and expert rendition of the hot 2012 vintage. While dense and ornately structured, in terms of the chunky tannins, there’s real transparency that comes through, against a backdrop of extrovert dried fruit. Drink from 2023.” – 96 Points, James Suckling

“Reserved for now, this red nonetheless exhibits buried flavors of black cherry, licorice, tea, eucalyptus and iron. Muscular tannins line the tobacco-accented finish, while a beam of fruit holds steady in the center. This will need some time to resolve the dense tannins. Best from 2023 through 2048.” -94 Points, Wine Spectator 

Producer:

The history of the Vietti winery traces its roots back to the 19th Century. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, however, did the Vietti name become a winery offering its own wines in bottle. Patriarch Mario Vietti, starting from 1919 made the first Vietti wines, selling most of the production in Italy. His most significant achievement was to transform the family farm, engaged in many fields, into a grape-growing and wine-producing business.

Then, in 1952, Alfredo Currado (Luciana Vietti’s husband) continued to produce high quality wines from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. The Vietti winery grew to one of the top-level producers in Piemonte and was one of the first wineries to export its products to the USA market