2015 Monchiero Riserva Rocche di Castiglione Barolo

FINAL SHIPMENT - VERY LIMITED 

95 Points, Gary Walsh (The Wine Front) - "From the best part of the vineyard, and made the same way as the standard cru wine, but released two years later. So it’s a vineyard selection, rather than a long oak jobby, which is the right philosophy, so far as I’m concerned. I love Rocche, and Villero. A little bit of lift, and then into the classic Rocche raspberry and roses, a little spice and new leather. It’s supple and flavoursome, a stony feel in with red fruits and spicy perfume, sage, coffee bean and tea and a little earthiness on fleshy tannin-laced finish of excellent length."

The key difference between the 2015 Rocche Riserva and the 2015 Rocche is that the Riserva comes from Monchiero’s best parcel of Rocche cru. This parcel has historically always produced the most powerful expressions of the Rocche cru but somehow without losing any of the quintessential Rocche elegance.  It’s true to the essence of Rocche but with far greater intensity. 

The notion of what constitutes a Riserva release is commonly misunderstood, some people have notions of excesses of new oak.  However, this wine sees the exact same period of time in cask as the standard 2015 Rocche and is left in bottle for 2 more years before release.