2005 Barbera d'Alba Sorì del Drago

On my latest visit to this estate, Giacinto Brovia was barely able to contain his enthusiasm for the (not-yet-picked) 2007 nebbiolo crop, which he believed offered the potential to be one of the greatest Barolo vintages of his lifetime. But 2004 is no slouch here. According to daughter Cristina Brovia, it's a "traditional, outstanding vintage-rich and classic. " The Brovias did a lot of green harvesting to bring down the crop load to about 45 hectoliters per hectare. In fact, added Elena Brovia, Cristina's sister, there was actually more fruit in 2001 due to some rain at the end of the growing season. In contrast, noted Alex Sanchez, Elena's husband, "we couldn't cut off any leaves in 2003 because the grapes needed the shade. " Nor was this extreme growing season a year for serious green pruning, he added, as the crop was already too concentrated. "We like the 2003s," Alex summarized, "but they're obviously not going to be long-aging wines. "