Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo 2017 750ml

Monica Larner's verdict on the 2017: a classic, traditional Barolo in spite of the hot year, drawn from four Verduno vineyards and released as 10,000 bottles.

Burlotto's Barolo is, in the estate's own words, built on the old practice of assembling several vineyards rather than bottling a single cru. The tech sheet names four parcels, all in Verduno, the northernmost commune of the Barolo zone: Breri, 0.77 hectares facing south at up to 240 metres; Neirane, one hectare facing west at 370 metres; and at the same height but facing east, 1.25 hectares in Rocche Olmo and 1.13 hectares in Boscatto. The soils are calcareous, formed in the Tortonian and Messinian ages, with clay, sand and silt in a balance the estate says holds water well.

Harvest is by hand into 20 kg boxes. Bunches are destemmed and the must moved by gravity into open French oak vats, with gentle pumping over and punching down each day. Malolactic fermentation and maturation follow in large French oak casks for 20 to 33 months depending on the year; after a summer bottling the wine rests at least nine months in the cellar before release. The label records the house's founding in 1850 and its role as sole provisioner of the Duke of the Abruzzi's 1899 polar expedition aboard the Stella Polare. Enoteca, the importer in Japan, calls this the standard cuvée of one of Barolo's oldest houses, a small family winery working largely by hand.

2017 brought spring frost and then summer heat and drought, a year Monica Larner calls challenging in her note on the estate's Cannubi. For this bottling she reports 10,000 bottles released and a wine that keeps its traditional character despite the heat. Fabio Alessandria, who makes the wines today, is in Aldo Fiordelli's view (Decanter, March 2021) one of the most talented producers now working in Barolo.

In the glass

Monica Larner (Wine Advocate, June 2021, 93 points, as quoted by Berry Bros. & Rudd) finds a soft, pliant wine with a long succession of wild cherry, blue flower, crushed stone and anise. Antonio Galloni (Vinous, 91 points, as quoted by Woodland Hills Wine Company) describes sweet red berry fruit, crushed flowers, mint, spice and orange peel in a silky, mid-weight Barolo. Susan Hulme MW (The Wine Independent, 95 points, as quoted by Woodland Hills) notes pure strawberry fruit and a fine but firm edge at the finish.

When to open

Larner gives a window of 2024 to 2038; Galloni suggests drinking it over the decade from release. The estate recommends serving at 16 to 18 °C.

At the table

Our suggestion, not the estate's: braised beef cheek, or tajarin with butter and white truffle.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Comm. G.B. Burlotto (website and Barolo tech sheet); label; Enoteca (Japanese importer); Wine Advocate (M. Larner) and Decanter (A. Fiordelli) as quoted by Berry Bros. & Rudd; Vinous (A. Galloni) and The Wine Independent (S. Hulme MW) as quoted by Woodland Hills Wine Company