2011 Barbaresco Asili

Under the winemaking leadership of the young Alessandro Ceretto, many changes have been made at this major estate in recent years.From 2006 to 2011, for example, Ceretto quickly evolved from using 100% new oak for their Barolos and Barbarescos to just 10% to 15%.And with the 2012 vintage, they began using some botti at the end of the elevage."Five vintages ago I was stirring the lees," Alessandro told me in September."I was getting more fat in the wines but losing acidity, and the act of opening the barrels weekly for three months was oxidative.At a certain point, I got sick of the fatness of our wines made between 1996 and 2001."There was an awkward transitional period here during which some wines seemed too advanced in bottle--due not only to the lees stirring but to possible cork problems and insufficient sulfur additions.But the wines I tasted in September indicate that Ceretto, a major owner of prime vineyards in both Barolo and Barbaresco, is back on track.Alessandro Ceretto describes the 2010 vintage as "classic, elegant, but with less muscle," while 2011 is "concentrated, soft, very round and immediate, with baby fat currently blocking terroir character."He considers 2009 to be "a strange vintage.You need to consider the cru and the producer," he explained."We initially compared 2009 to 1990 but the '90s had a different acid structure and significantly lower alcohol.Two thousand nine was a good year for late-ripening sites, but a lot of young vines experienced stress when they lost their leaves."