Cavallotto· Castiglione Falletto
About the domain.
What I admire most about Cavallotto is that they own their hill. Bricco Boschis, in Castiglione Falletto, is a single sweep of vineyard the family has held since 1928, house, cellar, and vines all on one continuous piece of ground, bottled under their own name since the late 1940s. That kind of unbroken possession is rarer in Barolo than people assume.
They farmed it organically for decades before certification made the practice fashionable, no synthetic herbicides, no purchased fruit. Alfio, Giuseppe, and Laura, the third generation, run it now. The wines are traditional Barolo in the fullest sense: long macerations, ageing in large Slavonian botti, no new barrique, no whole-cluster.
The Barolo Bricco Boschis is the estate wine, and in strong vintages the family declares two Riserva crus, Vigna San Giuseppe, from the heart of the hill, and Vignolo, an older parcel set apart. Alongside the Nebbiolo they make Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa, and a little Grignolino, the everyday Langhe wines, made with the same hand.