A Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe Riserva Review

There are so many wonderful wines in the annals of Italian history.

Even so, we can’t help but come back to the classics every once in a while. And when it comes to the classics, there’s perhaps no Italian wine that deserves the distinction more than the brilliant Barolo.

As we’ve said so many times before, Barolo is the true “King of Wines”. It’s revered by many as the most sumptuous Italian red wine available, though we’re sure that there are a few others that may contend that idea.

Still, we think that it’s always worth visiting the work of any producer that makes a particularly fine example of a Barolo. And with the Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe Riserva 2012, we have a Barolo that’s wowed the xtraWine team.

We’re going to take a look at the wine in a little more detail below. First, let’s shine a spotlight on the wonderful producer behind it.

The History of Cavallotto

The power of oneness defines Cavallotto. For its entire existence, one family has owned the one cellar on the single hill where the company’s vineyards stands. Cavallotto is less a company and more a family of winemakers who are doing what they were put on this planet to do.

They just so happen to do it in a place that offers an exemplary microclimate that’s ideal for the production of amazing Barolo wines.

The story starts in 1928. That’s when Giacomo Cavallotto purchased the Boschis property on which he would build a winemaking dynasty.

However, progress was pretty slow at first. Giacomo didn’t have huge ambitions as a wine producer and he was much more enamoured by the property and location over the winemaking potential that it offered.

But his grandchildren believed that they could do so much more with the Boschis property. Brothers Gildo and Olivio took control of the estate in 1946 and began to produce the wines previously reserved for the family. Bottles and labelled, these wines became the first that the estate made commercially available.

Previously, the brothers’ father and uncle had made wines on the estate for the family only. While they had similarly low ambitions to Giacomo, they had a winemaking talent that passed onto Gildo and Olivio. 

Together, they worked on the farm that Giacomo official founded about two decades prior to create a product that wowed critics.

It’s that very farm that still acts as the beating heart of the Cavallotto estate. The 23 hectares are all personal overseen by members of the family, who take a great deal of care to ensure that the grapes that land produce are of the highest possible quality.

The brothers Gildo and Olivio had grand ambitions for the land. After starting production in 1946. They realised that they’d need much larger cellars to cope with the fast-growing demand for their product.

This les to them expanding the cellars in 1948, right around the time that Cavalotto released its first Barolo onto the market. 

This company continue to enjoy steady, it not spectacular, growth for the next 20 years. And in 1967, they decided to add to repertoire. Alongside the Barolo came the addition of the cru “Bricco Boschis”. 1970 saw the brothers purchase several small parcels of land to supplement the estate’s main vineyard and ensure that production could keep pace with growing demand.

The 1980s saw the brothers celebrate 40+ years as part of the Italian wine industry. And of course, Father Time waits for no man. They’d worked hard to establish Cavallotto as a respected name in the Italian wine industry. Now, it was time to hand over the reins to people who could take the business even further forward.

They needed to look no further than their own family. Since the 1980s, Olivio’s own children, Laura, Giuseppe, and Alfio, have worked tirelessly to grow the brand and improve on the already spectacular wines that their father and uncle produced.

Together, the trio have further expanded the cellars, which shows just how effective they’ve been in regards to growing the demand for their family’s wines. They also added a new barrel ageing cellar into the hill that the estate stands on in 1994. This they attached to the pre-existing ageing and bottling areas.

And expansion has continued into the 21^stcentury as well. 2008 brought a further expansion of the estate’s bottle ageing cellar.

It’s safe to say that Cavallotto is in very capable hands as the company has enjoyed tremendous growth under the guidance of Olivio’s children.

Through it all, they’ve always produced some of the most spectacular examples of Barolo to hit the market. And in their 2012 vintage, we may have the best Barolo to ever emerge from the company.

The Cavalotto Barolo Bricco Easel Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe Riserva 2012 

You need only take a look at the many plaudits that the Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Easel Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe Riserva 2012 has received to see just how good this wine actually is.

The likes of Bibenda, Robert Parker, and Veronelli have all hailed it as one of the best Italian red wines of recent memory and it’s certainly one that you should consider adding to your collection.

Granted, the wine does carry a €90+ price tag. But what you receive in return for that money is quite unlike any other Barolo you may have tasted.

The colour is the first thing that you’ll notice. An intense ruby shimmer escapes the glass and offers you just the smallest of glimpses into what the wine has to offer.

Bring it to the nose and you’re almost overwhelmed by its many notes. The fruitiness soon gives way to floral notes that temper the intensity. Further exploration reveals spicy undertones that open up into a grand cacophony of flavour.

You’ll adore every sip of the wine that find its way into mouth. Perfectly structured, those note will dance around your tongue and leave you wanting more. The combination of complexity and elegance is one that few other wines can match. 

There’s a reason why this wonderful wine carries a 95/100 rating from the xtraWine team and Robert Parker.