Vietti - Barbaresco Masseria Roncaglie 2018 (750ml)
Vinous: 95 Points
The 2018 Barbaresco Masseria Roncaglie is a captivating layered wine full of character. Effusive aromatics make a strong opening impression. Rose petal lavender sage blood orange and red berry fruit all run through this vibrant focused Barbaresco. The 2018 is charming and nuanced from start to finish. This is the first vintage from a parcel that previously belonged to Socré. It's an impressive debut to say the least. All this nervy Barbaresco needs is time. - By Antonio Galloni on September 2021 In my view the Barbaresco Masseria is the most under-the-radar wine at Vietti. I rarely see it talked about and yet it has been quite impressive for a number of years. The 2017 and 2018 vintages mark an important transition for the Masseria. Readers should note that 'Masseria' is a trademarked brand not a vineyard named for one of the hamlets within the Cottá sub-zone where Alfredo Currado first sourced fruit for this wine in the 1960s. Over the years vineyard sources for the Barbaresco have varied. The 2017 is the last vintage made from an assortment of leased vineyards. Beginning in 2018 the Masseria is made exclusively from a sizeable parcel in Roncaglie Vietti acquired from Socré.
vWine Advocate: 94 Points
This wine shows its MGA name "Roncaglie" on the front label for the first time. That's because Vietti recently acquired additional land in this cru site. The total holdings now span two hectares of vines. The 2018 Barbaresco Roncaglie Masseria is made as if it were a Barolo (instead of a Barbaresco) and is released one year after its peers. It shows tart fruit and dried cranberry with some mild spice and tarry smoke from two years in large oak casks. Exactly 5026 bottles were made. Vietti is one of the most dynamic wineries in the appellation. Starting with the 2019 vintage the entire production of Barolo and Barbera is certified organic. This set of new releases comes with three big surprises. There are three new wines in their inaugural release: the single-vineyard Barolo Cerequio (with fruit from La Morra) the Barolo Monvigliero from Verduno and the Barbaresco Masseria now entirely made with fruit from Roncaglie. The Monvigliero is a wine of special interest as it is made with 60% whole cluster fruit in collaboration with colleagues over at Borgogna. I also recently read that Luca Currado Vietti actually created a shared investment in Monvigliero in 2018 (for an 8000-square meter plot in the MGA) with a group of 10 American investors. Luca could not buy the property outright but under the terms of the shared agreement the investor group retains 45% of the production each year released under the Vietti label and Luca is left with the remaining 55%. The question is: What will he do with his share of that precious fruit?
