2013 Manzone Giovanni Barolo Castelletto 750 ml

They don’t call Barolo “The King of Italian Wines,” for nothing. With the possible exception of Burgundy, no region quite shows off its terroir like Barolo, and this is your chance to secure the rare Mazone Giovanni Barolo Castelletto, a 95-point single-vineyard stunner. 

Simply put, it’s hard to go wrong with 2013 Barolo. Antonio Galloni, the top Italian-wine critic in the United States, singled out the 2013 Barolo vintage as showing “sublime finesse and elegance” with “the pedigree and class that are the signatures of the best Barolo vintages.” 

And in 2013, few producers outdid Manzone. The storied winery Manzone has been producing some of the finest Nebbiolo-based wines in the appellation since the family’s purchase of the parish priest’s house, the Ciabot del Preve, in Monforte d’Alba in 1925. Eventually, the family came to own two of the top vineyards in Monforte, Castelletto and Gramolere, and has been crafting wines of exceptional expressiveness and longevity from them ever since.

Now, start envisioning this wine in your home: 

The 2013 Giovanni Manzone Barolo Castelletto hails from the Castelletto vineyard, which consists of a 2.4 acres of Nebbiolo vines that sit at 1,100-1,300 feet of elevation, and face southeast toward Serralunga d’Alba. Vinified in a traditional style—undergoing macerations of at least 30 days before spending 36 months in 500- and 700-liter Slavonian casks and French tonneau—this is your golden opportunity to taste a truly fantastic expression of Barolo terroir.  

Castelletto delivers a deeply savory wine that gracefully transitions to a bone-dry finish. A seam of minerality runs throughout, infused with black licorice, cigar box, crushed rose petals, and brandied maraschino cherry. As Vinous eloquently put it in their glowing 95-point review, “This is another superb showing from Manzone.”