Cavallotto. The road less traveled

The Fratelli Cavallotto estate in Castiglione Falletto has been turning out some of the purest expressions of Nebbiolo ever since Olivio Cavallotto and his brother Gildo began bottling their own Barolos from their spectacular Bricco Boschis vineyards back in 1948. And when Olivio’s children Laura, Giuseppe and Alfio began working at the estate towards the close of the last century, the family firmly decided to continue making classic Barolos rather than the dense, over-extracted and over-oaked wines so in vogue at the time. Now that most consumers have tired of this once popular but over-blown and anonymous style, the Cavallotto’s penchant of always choosing the road less traveled has indeed made all the difference.

Scaling the crest of the Castiglione Falletto village in the heart of Barolo country, one cannot help but notice the Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschis estate with its impeccable hillside vineyards of thick, old vines that surround the family’s quiet country house and cellars. It is an unusual sight in the Langhe, where, as in Burgundy, the famed vineyard areas are rarely adjacent to producers’ homes and cellars. It was the spectacular setting of these vineyards that initially drew me to the estate while I was touring the Langhe in 2000. Eager to try the wines from these sun-drenched and perfectly maintained vines, on a whim I made my way unannounced up the tree-lined drive all the more beckoning for its lack of the usual imposing gate. I was warmly welcomed by what can only be described as a close and joyous family, who treated me to their complex and well-structured wines that were worlds apart from the heavily oaked, fruit forward Barolos that were pouring out of the area at the time.

This was after all the apex of the now infamous Barolo Wars that had dominated the Langhe’s winemaking scene for years. The conflict had deeply divided the area’s winemakers as nowhere else in Italy and back then the word ‘tradizionalista’ was practically an insult hissed at traditional winemakers. Hoping for critical acclaim, the majority of the Langhe’s producers of the day were fully immersed in imitating a select group of Barolo makers, those self-proclaimed Modernists, (a term that has now become thankfully passé) who had been elevated to super-star status by a cadre of national and international journalists.

In this tumultuous period, the Cavallottos shockingly bucked all those tempting trends to make ‘easy’ and more commercial Barolo. “We want to make Barolo that tastes and ages like Barolo, a great but unique wine that can’t be made anywhere else,” Giuseppe said at the time, adding that the firm tannins and vibrant acidity of their Barolos were crucial for lengthy cellaring. Nearly ten years later, the Cavallottos remain adamant about making Barolos of almost invincible structure that express the power and purity of Nebbiolo in all its rose petal, tar and wild cherry glory, and to do so by the most natural ways possible in both the vineyards and the cellars. And while they have always elected to travel down the road less traveled, there is decidedly more traffic these days as other winemakers turn towards many of the methods the Cavallottos have embraced for years.

Even though the concept of all-natural viticulture methods has become the latest marketing tool in the wine world according to many critics, the Cavallottos are however pioneers in this field. Gildo, now 78, remains in charge of the family’s 24 ha of vineyards, and in 1975 he and Olivio, with the collaboration of Prof. Lorenzo Corino, Director of Asti’s Experimental Institute of Agriculture, were the first in the growing zone to plant grass between rows in their vineyards. The grass cultivates competition with the vines, and “naturally reduces the vine’s grape production, generating fewer but better grapes,” according to Gildo. Cuttings are then left on the ground to help stop erosion, and because the resulting humus retains water, keeping the soil cool during drought. A year later, the estate introduced predatory insects that allowed them to cease using insecticides altogether. These organic alternatives to the chemical herbicides and insecticides that growers the world over were happily spraying in their vineyards did more than raise eyebrows in Barolo three decades ago. “In 1975 and 1976, my uncle and father were viewed as eccentrics if not downright crazy. But they quickly reached their goal of improving our vines and grapes and hence the quality of our wines by eliminating these harmful chemical substances. Since then, organic agricultural methods have been a way of life for us,” explains Alfio.

In the cellar, Giuseppe and Alfio, both trained enologists, are decidedly non-interventionists. Besides aging their wines in large Slavonian casks, the Riservas for five years and vintage bottling for three, they only use only wild yeasts for alcoholic fermentation. “We’re convinced that because we carefully cultivate our vines with full respect for nature that the indigenous yeasts present on our grapes are the best. Obviously, wild yeasts are only an option for grower-producers who scrupulously follow every phase of the cultivation process and who never buy grapes on the market,” says Giuseppe. Today, the Cavallottos powerful set graceful Barolos are no longer outsiders afloat in a sea of internationally styled wines, but are indeed among the Langhe’s most distinct bottlings that have become a benchmark for impeccable Barolos that demonstrate ‘tipicità’, or Barolos that respect both Nebbiolo and their terroir. But why since quality has long been solid, did wide spread recognition take this long in coming?

One reason could be that the family has remained incredibly modest and open, with none of the elusive tendencies and even arrogance displayed by some of the Langhe’s more flamboyant winemakers who tend to attract media attention. And yet Cavallotto is one of the most storied houses in all of the Barolo growing zone, currently boasting the fifth generation of grower-winemakers according to family records. They were also the first private winery in their area and undoubtedly one of the first in the entire Barolo growing zone to vinify and bottle their wines commercially. “For generations, local farmers used to sell their grapes to the cooperatives or the few large Barolo houses that existed. Our family always sold grapes to Bonardi, which was a famous Barolo firm in Alba and one of the first to export to the US,” explains Olivio, who at 79 still oversees the running of the estate. “But in 1944 and 1945 the roads and bridges were destroyed because of the War and we couldn’t get the grapes to Alba. So rather than lose all the grapes, we decided to make the wine ourselves and aged it in our cellars. In the years after the war, our cellars were full of wine but the brokers and buyers didn’t want it because there was no demand. So we sold it all directly, in damigiane or large glass containers, to local restaurants and trattorie,” says Olivio. Fortified by this experience, in 1948, after their father’s premature death, 18 year-old Olivio and 17 year-old Gildo began producing, bottling and labeling their wines and selling them to what had become a loyal clientele, decades before other local growers became producers.

Then as now, the Cavallottos vinified only their own grapes from their magnificent Bricco Boschis hill that crowns Castiglione Falletto. Many Barolo fans ask why their vineyard area or cru did not appear in Renato Ratti’s now legendary Map of Barolo’s Best Subzones in which Ratti indicates what are arguably the best vineyards. Although many consider the work a landmark guide to the area’s best Barolos, there is a little known curiosity. “Ratti’s map is undeniably important, but even he acknowledged that the map was based on the then prevalent tradition in Barolo of grape buying. There were very few private wineries who made and sold wine, and Ratti’s map was based on interviews with a multitude of grape growers who sold their fruit. When Ratti compiled info for the map, all the subzones and crus he included at the time had more than one owner. As a result, many of Barolo’s top vineyards are missing from the map, not because they weren’t worthy, but because these vineyard areas were owned by a single family and Ratti wanted a general consensus from numerous growers who had parcels of select vineyards. Besides our Bricco Boschis cru, Falletto, now owned by Bruno Giacosa, and Conterno’s Francia, are all exempt from Ratti’s map,” points out Alfio.

The Cavallottos are the sole owners of the Bricco Boschis hill, and already in the 1960s, they identified the most important single vineyards on the hill, Vigna San Giuseppe, Vigne Colle Sudovest and Punta Marcello. “This estate originally belonged to the Marchesa Giulia Falletti, as did most of the vineyards and farms,” explains Laura Cavallotto, who is in charge of the administrative side of the firm as well as Public Relations. “When she died childless, the Marchesa left this property, and several others, to Giuseppe Boschis, who used to manage her numerous farms. Of all the land he inherited, Boschis chose to live here,” explains Laura who adds that the vineyard area was already marked on a military map dating from 1879. “In the 1920s, our great-grandfather and grandfather, who were grape farmers here in Castiglione Falletto, made the Boschis family an offer and bought the property in 1928,” according to Laura.

“Above all, I think the name and reputation of a producer offers consumers the best guarantee, but it’s no coincidence that behind the area’s best producers, are Barolo’s greatest crus,” says Laura. Bricco Boschis, with its southern exposures and complex combination of clay and calcareous soil is unquestionably one of the area’s top crus. Many of the Cavallotto’s vines are also very old, with an average age fifty, and generate a natural concentration and balance. “Our old vines give greater concentration and better balance between polyphenols, sugar and acidity. Because they produce fewer grapes, the wines tend to be highly structured and long-lived. Their long roots also allow them to reach underground minerals, all of which lend better aromas and more complexity to the wines,” says Alfio, who adds the deep roots also enable the older vines to survive sever drought much better than younger vines, as in 2003. The Cavallottos also produce a fantastic Nebbiolo Langhe, a rich and concentrated Barbera and a spicy and vibrant Grignolino from their Bricco Boschis vineyards, and another outstanding Barolo Riserva from their nearby cru Vignolo.

The Cavallottos generously opened up a number of their older Barolos to demonstrate, in their words, how their wines held up. The bottles were opened at the moment, and the tasting and interview lasted several hours, allowing ample time for the wines to evolve in the glass. The tasting proved beyond a doubt that Cavallotto’s wines have a nearly marathon aging capacity during which time they evolove splendidly. Aging remains a controversial subject in Barolo, with many producers aiming for a more ready-to-drink style that they also claim will hold up for years. For the Cavallottos on the other hand, cellar worthiness is a crucial quality in their Barolos, and although they have very few bottles left, they had the foresight to hold back a few bottles from their earliest vintages when they began their journey down the road less traveled.

Check out  REVISTING OLDER VINTAGES and input Cavallotto for my reviews.

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Read Olivio Cavallotto 1930-2021: Pioneer in single-vineyard Barolo and organic viticulture.