Barolo, Vigna Rionda, 2017

Vigna Rionda in Piemontese dialect literally means “round shape”, a reference to its all-day sun exposure. The estate has opted to release Vigna Rionda out of sequence, preferring to sell the wine when they deem it ready to open. The 2016 will likely be released in 2024. Excitingly for us, 2017 was the first vintage under Francesco Versio’s watch, and it shows waves of dark fruit, cassis and bilberries with bramble and sea salts. It’s still all quite bound up at the moment but its potential is there through its intensity of flavour and long enveloping finish. 2017 was a warm year in which it was common to see the seeds ripen in the grape before the skins. To avoid any harsh extraction the wine only saw 20 days of skin contact before malolactic and ageing in large cask for a full three years. The 2017 follows the discipline of a Riserva but it is not stated on the label.