Cavallotto: 2025 Winery of the Year
Michele Boscia
Selecting her favorite Italian winery of 2025 wasn’t an easy process, but revered wine writer Kerin O’Keefe explained why Barolo’s Cavallotto stood out from the pack this past year.
“Not only did I give its two flagship Barolo Riservas perfect scores, but also the estate’s more affordable, everyday options performed beautifully, as they do every year,” she wrote in her recent review, naming Cavallotto as the year’s best producer.
Cavallotto is not just an exemplary Italian producer, they are historically important worldwide as the first winery in Barolo to make and bottle wines under their own label. In addition, they were the first to plant grass between rows back in 1975 and proceeded from there to lead the way towards organic viticulture, setting an example for skeptical peers. This work continues today with current proprietors Alfio and Giuseppe Cavallotto who have pushed beyond organic into biodynamic practices, rare in Italy as a whole and even more so in Piedmont.
O’Keefe is not alone in her assessment of Cavallotto’s superiority. Just last month, Vinous founder and CEO Antonio Galloni reported on the company’s 2025 Icons tasting event which kicked off with an incredible Cavallotto dinner featuring bottles as far back as the initial 1967 Bricco Boschis vintage, as well as the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and beyond. He refers to the estate as “one of the most historic names in Piedmont," noting “It was a special evening of superb wine, food and the kind of camaraderie that the best wines inspire.”
We’re clearly a bit biased, but in a fine wine industry that’s moving more and more toward transparency coupled with singularity and experiential purity, few wines deliver the goods like Cavallotto. Everyday, new wine drinkers are taking an interest in Barolo’s cru vineyards, recognizing a patchwork of complexity that rivals the great clos of Burgundy. Bricco Boschis is perhaps one of the finest examples and O’Keefe calls it “one of the denomination’s top sites”.
To top it off Bricco Boschis is essentially a monopole, cementing the estate’s icon status. And the wines are renowned for their longevity, which only adds to their historic status on the world stage!