Vietti Barolo Riserva "Villero" 2012 / 750 ml.

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Item#: 50877
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. Some 3,300 bottles of this vintage were made.
Vietti’s 2012 Barolo Riserva Villero is absolutely gorgeous. In 2012, the Villero is especially lifted and aromatic, showing a distinctly floral and red-toned expression of fruit rather than the darker, more balsamic inflections that are typical of this Castiglione Falletto cru. Light on its feet, fresh and graceful to its core, the Villero is another terrific wine from Vietti in 2012. Veins of Villero tannin and bright acids give the wine energy, vibrancy and tons of character. More than anything else, though, the 2012 Villero is a very clear continuation of a stylistic evolution that can be traced to the 2010 Barolo Ravera in which the Barolos are now made in a more traditional style than in the past, which includes malolactic fermentation in cask rather than barrique. In 2012, that approach was not in place for all the Barolos, but it is very much evident here.
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Critical Acclaim
RP97 97 pts. / Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate (28th Jun 2019)
VN95+ 95+ pts. / Vinous (Jun 2019)
Where It's From
Country / Italy
Italy is famous for its powerful, sleek, and elegant reds wines from ancient growing areas with legendary names such as Chianti, Barolo, Barbaresco, Montepulciano. Italian white wines are also gaining popularity: Orvieto, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon are excellent examples of Italian white wines.
Wines of Italy are complex and flavorful, much like the culture that is their source and the cuisine that is their match.
More Information
SKU | 50877 |
---|---|
Product Type | Wine |
Alternate Name | Vietti Barolo Riserva “Villero” |
Country | Italy |
Region | Piedmont |
Product Location - Location-Appellation | Barolo |
Package Size | 750 ml. |
Proof/Alcohol by Volume | 14.5% |
Brand | Vietti |
Bottles per Case | 12 |
Vintage | 2012 |
Bin Location | 0 |
Can it be Shipped | Yes |
Premier Pick | No |
Wine Type | Table Wine |
Wine - Color | Red |
Grape(s) | 100% Nebbiolo |
Primary Grape | Nebbiolo |
Dollar Sale (Y/N) | No |
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The Vietti 2013 Barolo Riserva Villero is a stunning wine, full of life, energy and beautiful complexity. This vintage opens in such a graceful manner, tickling the senses like a feather. With time, that initial softness begins to rise, and the wine grows in aromatic momentum and textural importance to take on magnificent fruit weight. It is soft, caressing and long. Tasted seven years after the harvest, this Riserva is expertly integrated with vibrant primary fruit, tangy acidity and non-intrusive tannins. These elements that make up the grand totality of the wine are carefully contained and chiseled down to a most elegant and beautiful common denominator.
Vietti’s 2013 Barolo Riserva Villero is a showstopper. Wow! dense, powerful and richly constituted, the Villero captivates from the very first taste. Smoke, scorched earth, gravel, cured meats and black cherry are some of the many notes that inform this decidedly somber, brooding Barolo. The interplay of fruit density and structure is just captivating. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of exotic red fruit blood orange and floral overtones, along with huge swaths of tannin. This is the first vintage in which 100% of malolactic fermentation took place in cask rather than in French oak barrique. It is also the finest vintage of the Villero I have ever tasted, and I say that with my often stated view that, at least in the past, the Riserva has never been the best wine in the Vietti range. In a word: dazzling.
Lots of tar, crushed berries, cedar and dried flowers on the nose. It’s full-bodied with powerful, focused tannins. Tile and dried-earth notes, too. So focused and full of strength, yet it remains agile and polished. Try after 2023 and onwards.
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The 2019 Barolo Cerequio is a worthy follow up to the stellar 2018. Aromatic and deeply pitched, the 2019 races across the palate with remarkable depth and intensity. Crushed red berry fruit, rose petal, mint and cinnamon all open in the glass, but it is the wine’s silkiness and suppleness that impresses most. A kick of acids and tannins puts an exclamation point on the finish. This is a gorgeous Cerequio that takes all the finesse this site offers, and then turns up the volume. What a wine. (Antonio Galloni)
Coming from La Morra, a more fruit-forward tone can be found in the licorice spice and depth of the 2019 Barolo Cerequio, which offers slightly darker fruit, ripe berries, and peppercorn. This was the second vintage produced and is more approachable now for the vintage. It is a joyful wine though it still has ripe structure. Drink 2024–2044. (Audrey Frick)
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Another highlight in this range, the 2014 Barolo Ravera opens with the most exquisite, captivating aromatics imaginable. It will be interesting to see if it develops a bit more midpalate depth and pliancy. Today, the 2014 is a bit austere, even within the context of the year and this site, where the wines are a bit on the nervous side to start. I have seen Vietti Raveras blossom into spectacular wines and imagine that will be the case here as well. Readers should not plan on opening a bottle anytime soon.
To my palate, the Ravera cru is one of the most immediately recognizable in the entire Barolo appellation. It gives off robust aromas of cherry liqueur and bitter chocolate. Those are two of the beautifully polished characteristics you get with the 2014 Barolo Ravera. But there is a lot more complexity to behold in this wine. Subtle notes of balsam herb, crushed mineral and rusty iron also appear. This next descriptor might seem awkward to a non-Italian readership, but you might even detect a hint of perfumed anchovy. It’s all good and all beautiful.
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The 2019 Barolo Castiglione is elegant, translucent and classy. Crushed red berry fruit, orange peel, mint and cinnamon all grace this elegant, wonderfully nuanced Barolo from Vietti. I especially admire the energy here. In many vintages, the Castiglione is easygoing and quite accessible, but I see the 2019 needing a few more years to come into its own. I especially admire its focus and cut. (Antonio Galloni)
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The 2022 Roero Arneis is fresh herbs and floral with tarragon, white flowers, and white peach. Medium-bodied and revealing fresh orchard fruit, saline, and notes of basil, it has texture but surprising freshness and is really lovely at this youthful stage. Drink it over the next several years. (Audrey Frick)
Only $21.59 each when you buy a solid or mixed case
The 2019 Barolo Ravera is the most intensely mineral and saline of the Barolos. Crushed rocks, white pepper, flowers, orange zest, red berry fruit and bright acids all run through this finely sculpted, chiseled Barolo. Readers who enjoy Barolos of energy and tension will adore the Ravera. I have always had a soft spot for this Barolo. The 2019 is another magnificent dimension of Vietti’s dark horse, a wine that over the last 10–12 years has routinely challenged for the crown here, and often won! (Antonio Galloni)
The 2019 Barolo Ravera is a wine of impact and power, and it is also a wine of the future. That’s because Ravera (in the village of Novello) is one of the break-out sites that continues to awe and surprise despite a changing climate. Indeed, its high elevation and open panorama toward snow-capped mountains keeps the microclimate ventilated but also protected. Luca Currado affirms that Ravera is what Cannubi was just a few years ago. Wines from Novello also show an extraordinary but very unique evolution in which the tannic impact of the wine remains firm. This vintage shows deep intensity and good freshness. It fully covers the palate from front to back. (Monica Larner)
The 2019 Barolo Ravera is supple with aromas of licorice, raspberry liqueur, blood orange. It is medium to full-bodied, offering more citrus ripeness throughout, as well as notes of tea leaf and grenadine, fine tannins, and fresh acidity, without feeling austere. This is an adjacent property to Cogno’s prized section of Ravera Pernice. Drink 2024–2044. (Audrey Frick)
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The 2019 Barolo Lazzarito continues a trend seen in recent years in which the focus has been more about finesse than raw power. Intense red fruit, iron, dried herbs, chalk, dried rose petal and white pepper all run through this deep, virile Barolo. The power and intensity of Serralunga really come alive on the heady, explosive finish. Bright saline notes linger on the deep, resonant finish. A Barolo of raw, unbridled power, the Lazzarito demands patience. (Antonio Galloni)
Another pale ruby Barolo, the 2019 Barolo Lazzarito is from a 2.5-hectare parcel of the cru and reveals a hint of purple flowers, with a mix of red and blue fruit berries. It has more expansiveness on the palate, with more broadness, although it is not weighted. It offers a light balsamic tone, with rosemary and fresh herbs, and is persistent on the long finish. This will benefit from more time in bottle and drink 2026–2046. (Audrey Frick)
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Primary Grape: Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
Only $14.39 each when you buy a solid or mixed case
This wine’s robust red cherry and berry flavors surge through taut, ferrous tannins, maintaining a cool elegance as the wine fleshes out with exposure to air. Girded by a tarry undertone, the flavors are impressively precise, the tannins finely chiseled, the aromas exuberant and fresh.
The 2018 Barolo Ravera is a wine of real depth and vertical structure. As always, the Ravera is a taut, nervy Barolo built on energy more than volume. Readers will have to be patient, as the Ravera is likely to require a number of years to be at its most expressive. Even in the early going, it is vibrant and full of life. Rose petal, chalk, blood orange and white pepper lend striking exotic top notes that are quite suggestive of what the future is going to bring. What a gorgeous Barolo this is.
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From the southwest facing amphitheater of Lazzarito in Serralunga d’Alba the 2017 Barolo Lazzarito was aged for 30 months in a combination of large oak casks and barrique. The nose is layered with elegant spice and floral notes of cedar, red plum, and brushed leather. There is incredible balance within its structure, which has deceptive ease for early drinking. Hold 3–5 years or drink 2023–2046. (Jeb Dunnuck)
Vietti’s 2017 Barolo Lazzarito is absolutely gorgeous. Whatever the challenges of the growing season, they appear to have been no problem here. More than anything else, the Lazzarito impresses with its magnificent depth and stature. Super-ripe red fruit, white pepper, mint, tobacco, cured meat, spice and rose petal open gradually with time in the glass. I would not be in a rush to open bottles anytime soon. The Lazzarito has been one of the most improved wines at Vietti for a number of years. The 2017 is so captivating.
A release of 8,760 bottles, the Vietti 2017 Barolo Lazzarito draws its fruit from Serralunga d’Alba and reveals a luminous garnet color. Compared to some of the others in this portfolio, the wine takes a little longer to open and express itself. It does, however, unfold to dark cherry, redcurrant, grilled herb, iron ore and candied orange peel. You need to give your glass a few extra vigorous swirls. Those rusty mineral notes build in intensity and drive the wine’s medium-long finish.
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