On a single hill in Castiglione Falletto, one family has spent nearly a century turning the grapes of one slope into Barolo of remarkable consistency. Cavallotto is the estate of the Bricco Boschis, and almost everything in the bottle is born within sight of the cellar door.
Backstory
The Bricco Boschis traces back to the 18th century, when it was owned by Countess Juliette Colbert and tended by her vineyard manager Giuseppe Boschis, whose name the hill still carries. In 1928 Giacomo Cavallotto acquired the property. In 1946 his grandsons Olivio and Gildo began vinifying the estate's entire crop, and in 1948 they released the first Barolo under the Cavallotto label. The estate pioneered the single-vineyard idea in the zone, bottling Bricco Boschis as a cru in 1965 and adding further named parcels in 1970. In 1989 the family acquired most of the neighboring Vignolo cru. Today Olivio's children Alfio, Giuseppe and Laura, the fourth generation, run the estate.
The Region
The estate sits in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of the Barolo zone in Piedmont. The Bricco Boschis is a calcareous hill, and its soils mix calcareous clay marl with sand. Alfio Cavallotto describes a patchwork of clay types across the slope, with sandier zones yielding lighter, more perfumed wines and the marl giving minerality and structure.
Vineyards and Farming
The family farms 23 planted hectares on the hill. They introduced permanent native grass cover across the site in 1974 and converted to organic cultivation in 1976, long before it was fashionable in Barolo, working without herbicides or synthetic pesticides. Named parcels include Vigna San Giuseppe, the oldest planting, along with Colle Sudovest and Punta Marcello.
Winemaking
Cavallotto works in a classic, traditional register. The wines age in large Slavonian oak botti ranging from 20 to 100 hectoliters rather than small barriques. Malolactic fermentation takes place in concrete tanks that hold a naturally steady temperature, while stainless steel is used to protect wine from air. Modern destemming and bottling equipment is paired with long, patient aging in cellars dug into the hill.
The Wines
The flagship is Barolo Bricco Boschis, joined by the Barolo Riserva Vignolo and the Barolo Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe Riserva, the estate's most age-worthy wine. The range also includes Barbera d'Alba and other Piedmont reds, all from estate fruit.
