Winemaker Notes
Each vintage reflects the climatic conditions of that year, particularly when it is
warm as it was in 2003. While some producers’ crops were damaged, Viberti
benefited from the hight altitudes of its vineyards. On the nose, mineral traits
come through and it expresses spicy and sweet notes. It is full-bodied with dry
tannins and a pleasantly bitter finish.
Enoy with hearty meat-based pasta dishes, game, and roasted red meats.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine, with fruit from the village of Barolo, shows lots of fun aromas of exotic spice and clove that are delivered in a measured and elegant manner. Those savory characteristics come from the fruit and the age of the wine and not necessarily from the oak. The Giovanni Viberti 2015 Barolo Riserva Bricco delle Viole shows a lot of verve and character, and the closer you inspect this vintage, the more you are aware of crushed rose, dried violet and essence of truffle. It is an offbeat Barolo for sure but quite interesting nonetheless.
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Decanter
In the open and solar Bricco delle Viole, Viberti manages a vineyard that was planted in 1964. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel tanks (as well as for malolactic fermentation), than subject to long ageing in Slavonian oak cask for 46 to 50 months. More violet than rose on the nose, this has dried cherries and strawberry flavours that are wrapped up in a soft structure with ripe tannins and refreshing, moderate acidity. There is a very good balance between fruit (again strawberry) and extraction.
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Wine Enthusiast
This opens with aromas of ripe dark-skinned fruit, grilled herbs and camphor that take center stage. The dense palate offers dried black cherry, clove and sage alongside polished tannins.
Viberti, located in the village of Barolo in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, was founded in the early 20th century by Antonio Viberti, an innkeeper and restauranteur. Wine was produced from the estate vineyards exclusively for the patrons of the family restaurant, Trattoria al Buon Padre.
In 1967, ata time when Barolo wines were gaining international notoriety, Antonio's son, Giovanni, joined the family business and realized the potential of the estate vineyards to produce superior quality, world-class Barolo. After selling wines to restaurant patrons, who came from far and wide to enjoy the local cuisine, the reputation of Viberti Barolo spread leading to demand beyond Piedmont.
One hundred years after the creation of the Viberti winery, the family's connection to their beloved land of Barolo and its fine red wines remains unbroken as the 3rd generations of the Viberti family, GianLuca and Claudio, joined their father at the winery. Today, under the direction of Claudio, the winery produces varietally accurate, elegantly structured wines with fresh fruit aromas, bold tannins, and vibrant acidity that are approachable upon release, yet reward extensive aging.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.