Cavallotto

Cavallotto's modern history begins in 1928, when Giacomo Cavallotto acquired the 23-hectare Bricco Boschis vineyard on the high heart of Castiglione Falletto. For the first two decades the estate operated as a grape grower, selling its fruit to neighboring winemakers in the traditional Langhe pattern of the time. In 1946, two of Giacomo's grandsons, the brothers Olivio and Gildo Cavallotto, began vinifying the estate's entire production, and in 1948 they took the unusual step of dedicating the family business entirely to producing and selling estate-bottled wine under the Cavallotto label. That decision, made when very few small Langhe estates were yet bottling their own wine, gave Cavallotto a roughly two-decade head start on much of the modern Barolo industry.

• 1928: Giacomo Cavallotto acquired the 23-hectare Bricco Boschis vineyard in Castiglione Falletto; estate sold grapes to other producers for the first two decades
• 1946: brothers Olivio and Gildo Cavallotto began vinifying the entire production; 1948 marked the formal commitment to estate-bottling
• Estate-bottled Barolo was uncommon in 1948; Cavallotto's early move predates the broader Langhe shift toward estate-bottling by ~20 years
• The Bricco Boschis name was carried into the company name itself: Tenuta Vitivinicola Cavallotto Bricco Boschis

The estate's modern reputation was built largely by Olivio Cavallotto, who ran the winery with his brother Gildo through the second half of the twentieth century. Olivio was an early advocate of single-vineyard bottling in Barolo, helping establish the principle that specific named parcels deserved their own labels well before the official MGA system codified the practice in 2010. He was also one of the earliest serious adopters of organic viticulture in the Langhe; the estate's organic farming dates back decades, with formal certification following on, long before organic Barolo was a commercial talking point. Olivio died in 2021 at the age of 91, having seen the estate through its full transformation from a grape-selling farm into one of Castiglione Falletto's most respected traditionalist houses.

• Olivio Cavallotto (1930-2021) ran the estate alongside his brother Gildo through the second half of the twentieth century
• Pioneer of single-vineyard Barolo bottling, ahead of the formal MGA system established in 2010
• Decades-long commitment to organic viticulture; the estate is certified organic and has farmed without synthetic chemicals for many years
• Olivio died in 2021 at age 91, recognized as a foundational figure in Castiglione Falletto's modern history

Cavallotto's vineyard holdings center on Castiglione Falletto, the geographic and stylistic middle of the Barolo zone. The Bricco Boschis cru, a 7.3-hectare monopole entirely owned by the family, sits on a high south-facing ridge with calcareous-marl soils and yields a Barolo of clear structure and aromatic precision. Within that monopole, the Vigna San Giuseppe parcel produces the estate's Riserva, a wine made only in the strongest vintages and aged for an extended period in large oak. The estate also farms a parcel in the Vignolo cru, sloping 60 to 80 meters lower in elevation than Bricco Boschis and producing a slightly fleshier, more red-fruited expression of Castiglione Falletto. Together the three Barolo bottlings are entirely estate-grown, from a contiguous block of Castiglione Falletto vineyard land that has been in continuous family ownership for nearly a century.

• Bricco Boschis: 7.3-hectare monopole on the high heart of Castiglione Falletto; calcareous-marl soils, south-facing exposure
• Vigna San Giuseppe: the heart of Bricco Boschis, source of the Riserva, made only in the strongest vintages
• Vignolo: 60-80 meters lower in elevation than Bricco Boschis; produces a fleshier, more red-fruited Castiglione Falletto expression
• All Barolos are estate-grown from contiguous Castiglione Falletto holdings; total vineyard area approximately 23 hectares of the 25-hectare estate

Cavallotto's winemaking is firmly traditionalist: long submerged-cap macerations, fermentation in stainless steel and concrete, and extended aging in large Slavonian oak botti with no barrique. The Barolos see a minimum of three years in large oak before bottling, and the Riserva Vigna San Giuseppe sees considerably more, often six years or longer in cask. The result is a classical Castiglione Falletto Barolo: structured, aromatic, and built for slow evolution, with rose, tar, dried cherry, and a savory mineral undercurrent that develops with bottle age. The estate's organic farming reinforces a hands-off cellar approach, with indigenous yeasts and a conservative use of sulfur. Across vintages, the Cavallotto wines are unusually consistent stylistic markers for what classical Castiglione Falletto Barolo should taste like.

• Long submerged-cap (cappello sommerso) macerations followed by extended aging in large Slavonian oak botti; no use of barrique
• Barolo Bricco Boschis aged minimum three years in cask; Riserva Vigna San Giuseppe typically aged six years or longer
• Indigenous-yeast fermentations and conservative sulfur use, supported by the estate's certified organic farming
• Stylistic identity: classical Castiglione Falletto Barolo with rose, tar, dried cherry, and a savory mineral spine that rewards extended bottle aging

The estate is now run by the third Cavallotto generation: Olivio's three children Laura, Giuseppe, and Alfio, who began working at the winery in the late 1980s and have led it through the death of their father in 2021. Giuseppe and Alfio focus on viticulture and cellar work; Laura handles commercial and management responsibilities. The transition has been notably stable, with no shift in the estate's strict traditionalist style or its commitment to organic farming. Cavallotto has stayed deliberately small and family-run, declining the path many comparable estates have taken into broader portfolios or external ownership, and the wines today remain among Castiglione Falletto's most reliable references for traditional Barolo.

• Third generation: Laura, Giuseppe, and Alfio Cavallotto, all of whom began at the estate in the late 1980s
• Giuseppe and Alfio focus on viticulture and cellar work; Laura runs commercial and management functions
• Stylistic continuity across the generational transition: no shift toward modernist technique or away from organic farming
• Estate remains entirely family-owned and operated, focused exclusively on its Castiglione Falletto holdings