Barolo Castelletto

Castelletto is Burlotto's Monforte d'Alba bottling, added to the range with the 2018 vintage and the estate's only cru outside Verduno and Barolo proper. The vineyard sits at roughly 350 m on the eastern flank of Monforte, with limestone-dominant soils mixed with clay, sand and marl - geologically closer to Serralunga than to the Sant'Agata marls of Verduno. What sets it apart from those Helvetian neighbours is its cooler, east-facing exposure: tannin levels measure similarly to the warmer south- and south-west-facing crus of Monforte, but the imprint on the wine is darker, more linear and more austere.

Vinification follows the estate's traditional template - manual harvest, fermentation in open French oak vats, gentle gravity transfers, long maceration with daily punching down and pumping over, and ageing in large old botti rather than barriques.

The 2020 growing season favoured the higher, calcareous sites of Monforte and Serralunga; Monforte ended the vintage among the strongest performers in the appellation. After a cool, rainy May and isolated June hail in La Morra and Verduno (Monforte was spared), the summer settled into a steady, balanced ripening - sunny but rarely above 35 °C, with cooling rain at the right moments. Production of the 2020 Castelletto was around 3,000 bottles.