This brilliant, traditionally-minded grower has carved a striking pair of Riserva wines from 2018, wines that sit effortlessly alongside the more hyped vintages surrounding it. Both are classically powerful releases that do not comfortably fit the stereotype of a lighter Barolo vintage. This will come of no surprise to anyone who knows this producer and its vineyards. Much like Chavignol for Sauvignon Blanc, the Gräfenberg for Riesling, and Burgundy’s Grand Crus, Bricco Boschis is one of Barolo’s more profound terroirs; rarely does the vintage outshine the vineyard. Challenging growing seasons tend to dampen expectations, yet, for Alfio Cavallotto, there is no question that 2018 will be a bridesmaid vintage. He told us that if he were offered more vintages like 2018, he would take them. “It’s a great vintage,” he expressed, safe in the knowledge that his wines—whose grapes were harvested in October—walk the walk. Cavallotto’s glowing assessment of the year only heightened as the wines evolved in both barrel and bottle. Time has been very kind to Barolo’s 2018 vintage. Tasting the wines today makes you appreciate why many of Europe’s top growers seek to release their principal wines with more age. Low yields played a key role, as they often do. The Bricco Boschis yielded just 28 hl/ha, a consequence of this vineyard’s old vines and old clones as well as strict selection. So, where the Riserva Vignolo has a little more perfumed lift and mineral-tinged red fruit in this vintage, the Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe is textbook: full of alluring intensity, spice and carved texture. The young wines remind us of 2012 and 2015 at the same stage, two years now looking exceptional from bottle. Barolo lovers will be very pleased to have both in their cellar! And as we discovered in Castiglione Falletto earlier this year, Cavallotto did it again in 2020. Sandwiched between the two dominant vintages of 2019 and 2021, we would happily bet that Cavallotto’s lucid, red fruited 2020 Bricco Boschis will offer more pleasure than the same wine from either vintage if drunk within five years. The moral? Don’t follow leaders; watch yer parking meters.