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Private Collector
Wine is sold as-is. Photos show the fill level of this bottle, which is currently being stored in a temperature/humidity-controlled environment, but Farmstead can not attest to its previous storage conditions or chain of ownership since its release. It was kept by a private collector in its original box.
Compiled Tasting Notes:
The 1993 Bricco Castelletto opens with the unmistakable patina of mature Nebbiolo: a bouquet that begins promisingly with dried cherry, faded rose petal, and a touch of leather before deeper oxidative tones emerge. Early in the glass, the wine shows a gentle sweetness of fruit—red cherry shading into prune—suggesting a vintage that has moved well into its tertiary phase dominated by bottle bouquet. With extended air, the wine’s structure softens noticeably, the tannins becoming more pliant and the fruit narrowing into a single, darker register.
On the palate, the wine is lean, resolved, and quietly expressive. The acidity still carries the flavors forward, but the fruit has largely ceded to notes of dried herbs, old wood, and a faint earthy bitterness. The finish is modest but clean, tapering with a final echo of dried cherry and worn leather. This is a bottle best appreciated for its nostalgic, time‑worn character rather than for power or complexity—an older Barolo that still offers a glimpse of its origins but is now beyond its peak drinking years.
This bottle makes a memorable birthday gift for anyone born in 1993!
About Luigi Calissano
All Calissano wines are legacy wines from a defunct producer, having met with severe financial difficulties in the 1990s, finally declaring bankruptcy in the early 2000s. This was a heartbreaking end to a family business that began in 1872 in Alba. Luigi Calissano & Figli was one of Piedmont’s historic Barolo houses, long associated with traditional winemaking.
The estate built its reputation on firmly structured, long‑aging Barolo crafted in large casks and released only after extended maturation. While the winery today is best known for its accessible, traditional Barolo bottlings, its single‑vineyard expressions such as Bricco Castelletto reflect the estate’s earlier ambition to highlight specific hillside sites within the Barolo zone.
The Bricco Castelletto vineyard, located in the commune of Monforte d’Alba, is known for producing Barolo of firm tannic backbone, dark‑toned fruit, and pronounced longevity. In the early 1990s when this wine was made, Calissano’s style leaned toward a classic, somewhat rustic expression marked by long macerations, neutral large oak, and wines built for extended cellaring. The 1993 vintage, now more than three decades old, represents this era: a traditional Barolo crafted for time, showing today the softened structure and tertiary evolution typical of mature Nebbiolo.
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