2019 Barolo Vigna Gattera

The 2019 Barolo Riserva Gattera is a medium brick red color and boasts a generous, enveloping ripe nose with aromas of baked cranberries, pie spice, candied walnut, and minty herbs. It offers a more saturating feel on the palate, with tangy acidity, ripe tannins that expand through the mid-palate, and a savory earth-toned finish. It has a more autumnal feel, and while it has the structure to age, it has a lot of complexity to offer at this early stage as well. As with the Cru Barolo offerings, it was raised for 24 months in French oak, although it saw extended time in bottle for 35 months prior to release. Drink 2025-2040. Each of the Cru Barolo bottlings was raised for 24 months in French oak barrels, followed by six months in cement tanks and six months in bottle prior to release.

Here's a new submission from Gianfranco Bovio. In the bottle with the black label, the Bovio 2019 Barolo Riserva Gattera comes off as silky and polished with pressed rose, dried currant, spice and an almost metallic-like minerality that adds contours and sharpness. This wine holds a tight and rich level of concentration, yet the results are balanced and elegant throughout. This is a 2,546-bottle release, with larger formats too.

The 2019 Barolo Riserva Gattera is a powerful wine. Macerated cherry, plum, blood orange and a kiss of sweet, vanillin-infused oak all take shape in the glass. There's a touch of new oak in this wine that is not typical of the Bovio Barolos, perhaps from a newer cask. That note is a bit distracting, yet this is still a very fine Barolo.