Burlotto

The history of Comm G.B. Burlotto

Burlotto is not just any wine producer in Barolo. The family has one of the oldest stories in the area of wine, dating back to 1850 when the winery was founded in the same historic facilities it still occupies today in Verduno, the heart of the northernmost Barolo municipality of the same name.

Back then, the family cultivated various crops, but they already had a distinctive and visionary focus on producing quality wines that could represent the local grape varieties of Langhe in an unprecedented, excellent manner. This was highly atypical for the region at that time, where wine had not yet gained any particular significance and was merely seen as one of many sources of income, placing the production focus on quantity over quality for all the region's farmers. But not for the Burlotto family, led by Giovan Battista Burlotto. Their pioneering spirit eventually led the family's wines to royal tables and expeditions of Italy's then royal families, contributing to giving Burlotto's Barolo wines special recognition early on. This recognition has since been significant in shifting the focus for many of the region's farmers, shaping the understanding of Barolo, and eventually elevating the area's reputation on an international level.

Today, Burlotto remains family-owned and is run by the 5th generation, with siblings Christina and Fabio Burlotto at the helm. They continue to uphold proud traditions, pushing the boundaries of quality and elegance in Barolo.

Wines and production methods

Burlotto is renowned for creating perhaps the most elegant Barolo wines available. Based on the region's traditional production methods and a deep focus on allowing the grapes and terroir to express themselves clearly in the wines, they produce extremely complex wines that exist in a unique intersection of being simultaneously delicately light, vibrantly alive, and ethereally rich with outstanding purity, precision, and depth.

In addition to Burlotto's famous Barolo wines, including a classic Barolo and several single-vineyard Cru wines, they also take great pride in producing a range of other wines from local grape varieties, including a regular Nebbiolo, two different Barbera wines, and the estate's jewel, Pelaverga, a grape variety originating from their hometown of Verduno.

The winemaking process at Burlotto is highly traditional and nearly identical for all Barolo wines. They undergo an extended maceration, naturally starting in large open French oak barrels that are decades old. The process is gentle, with daily delicate pump-overs. The wines are then aged similarly in large botti grande of French oak for 20-33 months in the cellar. Despite the essential role of barrel aging in winemaking, no influence of oak is desired in the wines, hence only 20-40-year-old barrels are used.

• Burlotto Barolo

  Despite their historical focus on reflecting the unique diversity and expression of Barolo through different single vineyards, Burlotto is simultaneously traditional. They prefer to introduce their portfolio of Barolo wines in a classic way with the house's Barolo Classico. This Barolo is a blend of fruit from a wide range of their Nebbiolo vineyards to achieve optimal harmony and recognizability.

• Burlotto Barolo Aclivi

  Aclivi might sound like a single-vineyard wine, but it is more accurately described as a "single municipality wine." Aclivi is a blend of several Barolo Cru vineyards in the northernmost Barolo municipality, Verduno. The family refers to it as their proud "window to Verduno." Aclivi serves as the estate's calling card, representing the wine's exquisite expression of its home in arguably the most "elegant" of the 11 Barolo municipalities. The style is elegant, full of finesse, and almost uplifting with a plethora of small red berries, minerality, and ethereal notes of tea. Intriguing and enchanting in every sense of the word. A must-try to understand not just Verduno but, to a large extent, Burlotto's DNA, seamlessly woven into this wine.

• Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero

  The Monvigliero Cru is not only Verduno's flagship but also the estate's jewel. The vineyard's cult status is, in many ways, thanks to the Burlotto family, a crucial cornerstone in the area's success. The family has worked to elevate the understanding of the immense potential and quality of this terroir through generations.

  Burlotto's Monvigliero is a Barolo with world-class complexity. A divine wine that engages all the senses with its deep and lofty personality. The elements in this wine seem almost endless, and on a good day, they will continue to evolve in the glass in endless aromatic cascades of roses, red berries, rhubarb, white pepper, herbs, truffle essence, citrus fruits, and minerality that hovers over the palate in a remarkable interplay between rich texture and pulsating energy.

• Burlotto Barolo Cannubi

  With the estate's Barolo from the legendary Cannubi Cru, the family ventures beyond Verduno's borders and slightly south into the heart of Barolo itself, namely the Barolo municipality, or as it is colloquially called, Barolo di Barolo. In other words, this wine allows you to taste Burlotto's interpretation of that particular vineyard, often considered the heart of the heart of Barolo, both geographically and historically. Burlotto's Cannubi is a beautiful reflection of the terroir, renowned for possessing a combination of the two geological eras characterizing Barolo's soil. This gives the wine an interesting tension between a strong backbone of intense yet fine-grained tannins, an energetic punchiness that erupts from the glass like a pure aroma festival, precisely weaving together feminine floral and red-fruited components. A meeting of opposites, best described as a powerhouse of elegance.

• Burlotto Barolo Castelletto

  Castelletto is Burlotto's newest addition, another single-vineyard Barolo where the family explores interpreting terroir outside Verduno, similar to what they did with Cannubi. And they do it in a highly interesting way once again. Castelletto Cru is located in the municipality of Serralunga d'Alba, which can be described as Verduno's opposite in many ways. The choice here is not arbitrary, even though it may feel like "unknown territory" given Burlotto's stylistic expression. While Verduno wines play on "feminine" elegance, and Cannubi creates a bridge toward the more tannin-rich and, in many ways, traditional Barolo expression, Serralunga is known for "masculinity" with darker ripe fruit flirting with a more balsamic and spicy expression, bound together in an iron grip of tannins, at least in the wines' first many years after release. Is Burlotto's Castelletto now a "Textbook" Barolo? One can naturally find the answer by acquiring one of the rare bottles occasionally available for sale here on the marketplace. But if we were to give a preview, we can reveal that Burlotto's extensive wine knowledge and DNA are clearly sensed in this wine, demonstrating both great juiciness and elegance, despite this terroir's significant difference from their accustomed ones. A powerhouse wrapped in Burlotto finesse!

Experience the wines from Burlotto

The total annual production is extremely limited, making it challenging to get hold of these sought-after bottles.

On the ShareWine marketplace, however, you can always find an impressive selection of Burlotto's Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbera, and more wines for sale from private collectors' collections.