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The Spring 2013 Live Auction
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Lot 43
Estimate: $2,000
For every ten famous Barolos, there are a handful of Barolos deserving of far greater attention. Leading that list, in our view, is G.B. Burlotto’s Barolo Monvigliero. Few wine lovers would recognize its name, yet it is, very simply, one of the greatest Barolos made. It is also among the most distinctive. Vintage after vintage, its astonishingly intense, and instantly recognizable, perfume of Provençal black olive tapenade, cedar and truffle is nothing short of hypnotic. And it could come from no other place on earth. Burlotto’s Monvigliero has been made as a single-vineyard wine since 1982, but for a century before it was a key component in Burlotto’s fabled blended Barolo—the earliest archetype for the 20th century’s classic Barolo style. Thus, Monvigliero’s nuances have been known to several generations of Nebbiolo lovers. Monvigliero is not only the essence of its limestone-rich, high-altitude vineyard; it is also the essence of its old-fashioned crushing the grapes by foot, 60-day maceration and long aging in massive wood botti. The result is a Barolo of powerful structure, but with an ethereally delicate mouthfeel, providing great drinking pleasure when young but capable of long aging. The Burlotto family produces no magnums of Monvigliero, but they do make a few 3-liter jeroboams each year. In fact, each time a baby is born into the family, the baby is baptized in the wine from one of these precious jeroboams. Chris Robles was instrumental in bringing Burlotto into The Rare Wine Co. portfolio, and to this day, their Barolo Monvigliero remains one of his favorite wines. That’s high praise indeed.
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Italy grows more indigenous grape varieties than any other country and produces wine in all 20 of its regions. From Piedmont's Nebbiolo to Tuscany's Sangiovese, its finest wines pair structure and bright acidity with a strong sense of place.
In Italy's northwest, Piedmont is home to Nebbiolo, the grape behind the powerful, perfumed and long-lived reds of Barolo and Barbaresco. Fog-shrouded hills and calcareous soils define its greatest wines.
The 'King of Wines,' a powerful, tannic and perfumed Nebbiolo from Piedmont's Langhe hills, celebrated for tar-and-roses aromatics and extraordinary aging potential.
Produces pale but powerfully tannic and perfumed reds with tar, rose and cherry notes. The grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco, it is among the most age-worthy in the world.