2019 Monfalletto
Cordero di Montezemolo
La Morra, Barolo

1.5L MAGNUM

2019 in Barolo has turned out to be a great and exciting vintage, especially at the top producers like Montezemolo. Vajra and Vietti knocked it out of the park, as did many of the usual suspects. The problem with most of the usual suspects is availability and of course PRICING of those coveted wines. BUT, if quality and a fair price is what you are after, and from great producers Cordero di Montezemolo fits the bill well. They still fly under the radar as they are not a huge producer and mostly work with smaller importers in the US.

Montezemelo is from the west side of the region in La Morra, known for the highest altitude in the region and more clay soils that give a touch more plushness in style of wine, showcasing more fruit, but make no mistake there is plenty of tannin. La Morra is the epitome of the velvet glove with an iron fist. Monfalletto hails from a few vineyards around La Morra, but mostly from the winery near the iconic cedar of Lebanon (pic above).

92 pts Vinous
The 2019 Barolo Monfalletto is a dense, powerful wine. I don’t remember a vintage of the Monfalletto with this much sheer concentration and color saturation. Black cherry, plum, mocha, spice, licorice and new leather are all dialed up. The 2019 is undoubtedly a very fine Barolo, but the style is pretty pushed in the direction of textural opulence. In my view, some La Morra typicity is lost, but, to be fair, expressive village character does not seem to be the objective here. I am very intrigued to see how this ages.

Antonio Galloni – Nov 2022: Alberto Cordero di Montezemolo presented a stellar set of 2019 Barolos. The wines spent about 15 days on the skins, with quick malolactic fermentations that followed. As always, the two crus are bottled in the early side and show a bit more French oak influence than the Monfalletto. Speaking of the Monfalletto, it is unusually boisterous in 2019. This is another highly successful vintage for one of La Morra’s leading estates.