Farmstead Italian Wine Club – July Allocations

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Vietti Barbera d’Asti Tre Vigne (Organic)
Fattoria Basciano Chianti Riserva (Organic)
A bottle of Each

 

The Vietti winery, now managed by the family’s fifth-generation, is based in the small medieval village of Castiglione Falletto, the heart of Piedmont’s famous “Langhe” wine region. Here the Currado family carefully and patiently handcrafts lauded wines that are the result of a unique combination of sun and soil. Although the family has made wine for two centuries, the first Vietti-labeled wines were produced by third-generation Mario, who transformed the family’s farm into a grape-growing winery. In 1952  Luciana Vietti married winemaker and art connoisseur Alfredo Currado, whose intuitions – from the production of one of the first Barolo crus (Rocche di Castiglione – 1965), through the single-varietal vinification of Arneis (1967) to the invention of Artist Labels (1974) – made him both symbol and architect of some of the most significant revolutions of the time.

In 1970 the Viettis began working with artists on an ongoing, original artwork label program, featuring Pier Paolo Pasolini and Janet Fish among others, which received an exhibition at New York’s MOMA in 1996. In 1990 Alfredo and Luciana’s son Luca joined the family business as winemaker after working at California’s Simi Winery, Opus One, Long Vineyards, and Bordeaux’s Mouton-Rothschild. His innovative winemaking utilizes a unique combination of the modern and traditional. Luca’s focus on terroir is reflected in his careful cultivation and organic farming of more than 25 single vineyards. The estate has gradually grown over the course of time, and today the vineyards include some of the most highly-prized terroirs within the Barolo winegrowing area.

In 2016 the historic winery was acquired by Krause Holdings, enabling Luca and Elena, always at the head of the Vietti brand, to add a number of prized crus to the estate’s holdings, and be able as a result to look to a future with new, stimulating prospects, all while maintaining the family approach for which the cellar has always been known.

The Vietti family has been tending vines in Barolo since the middle of the 19th Century.  They are the only winery to have holdings in all eleven of Barolo’s grand crus.  

According to Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate:   “I can’t think of too many estates in Piedmont that have raised the bar higher than Vietti has over the last decade or so. Virtually every wine that emerges from these cellars is outstanding, and many are profound.  Winemaker Luca Currado and staff have taken the early groundbreaking work of Alfredo and Lucia Currado and built upon those successes, reaching an unprecedented level of consistency and quality across their entire range”.  

 

 

 

 

 

Vietti Barbera d’Alba Tre Vigne (Organic)

The Tre Vigne is predominately made up of three different vineyards located in Monforte, Castiglione Falletto, and La Morra, as well as a few other villages within the Langhe region. The vines grow on clay-limestone soils with the age of the vines ranging from 25 to 40 years.

After harvest, the grapes undergo alcoholic fermentation for approximately two weeks in stainless steel with daily pump-overs. Malolactic fermentation is done in malolactic fermentation as well. The wine is then aged for approximately one year altering between barriques, big cask, and stainless steel. 

Aromatically this wine is full of ripe red cherries, and warm scents of vanilla. On the palate, the wine is much more floral with notes of violets, bright acidity, soft tannins and a pleasant lingering flavor of cherries. 

91 points, Parker:  “After its malolactic fermentation in small wood casks and a year in botte grande, the totally unfiltered 2017 Barbera d’Alba Tre Vigne shows up as soft, immediate and rich, with nice little chocolate notes around the borders. Impressively, the various parcels of vines for this wine are all in the middle of the prestigious Barolo appellation. 

 

Vietti Barbera d’Asti Tre Vigne (Organic)

The grapes utilized in the Tre Vigne Barbera are selected from vineyards within Agliano Terme, one of which is also used for Vietti’s single-vineyard La Crena,  as well as other villages around the rolling hills of Asti.

After harvest, the grapes undergo a cold maceration in stainless steel, then are fermented for approximately two weeks, with daily pump-overs. The wine then macerates for another week, following which it is racked and transferred into oak for malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in a combination of barriques, Slavonian casks, and steel for roughly 18 months. 

Aromatically the wine is perfumed with notes of cherry and sweet spices. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with a charming amount of acidity, balanced with the utilization of oak and lingering flavors of cherries. 

91 points, Wine Spectator:  High-toned black currant, black cherry and violet aromas and flavors are accented by vanilla and toast notes in this suave red. Supple and intense, with a lingering aftertaste of dark fruit, licorice and spice.

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