2003 Barbera d'Alba Brea

The Brovias have hit a home run in 2001, with a set of Barolos that offer deep color, superb depth of flavor and powerful structure for aging. Cristina Brovia describes 2001 as "similar to 1996 but with sweeter tannins," which sounds to me like a Platonic ideal for Barolo. (Giacinto Brovia is now helped by daughters Cristina and Elena, both of whom have enology degrees, and Elena's husband Alex Sanchez. )These are classically made Barolos that normally receive a three-week maceration in cement tanks, which Elena says are ideal for keeping the temperature of fermentation down. Typically about ten days of post-fermentation maceration are done before the wines go into 30-hectoliter barrels made of French oak. Prior to '95, the family used considerably larger barrels, but Cristina noted that the 30-hectoliter size produces wines with better balance and does a better job of retaining terroir character. "The larger barrels made tougher wines," she admitted. "Now our wines can actually be tasted after two or three years in bottle. "