1996 Barolo Ginestra Vigna Sorì Ginestra

According to Guido Fantino, Barolo yields at this estate were in the very low 30 to 35 hectoliters-per-hectare range in '98, '97 and '96 (Fantino routinely drops a good percentage of the fruit in early August), and the small crop levels are reflected in the density of these wines. Fantino describes '98 and '96 as "more important" vintages, while '99 and '97 are "more elegant." I find that Fantino Barolos offer extraordinarily silky textures, especially considering their relatively low pHs (roughly 3.3 in '98, 3.4 in '97 and between 3.25 and 3.3 in '96, according to Fantino). Fantino relies on barriques to age his Barolos, but is flexible on duration and percentage of new oak, sometimes using a combination of new and used barrels, or moving the wines out of new barrels at the end of the first year. "The '96s spent a full two years in new barrels, but one couldn't put a mediocre vintage in new oak for this long." Fantino's Sori Ginestra is from a blend of 30-, 20- and 10-year-old vines planted in rich soil and normally producing very mature fruit, while the Vigna del Gris is from southeast-facing 45-year-old vines on sand and chalk soil. For the first time, I found myself gravitating toward the Vigna del Gris, which may have benefitted more from the very warm late summer conditions in '97 and '96 than the full south-facing Sori Ginestra.

With the '96 vintage, winemaker Guido Fantino began using the new rotating tanks whose revolving paddles keep the skins moving constantly and are able to bring about greater extraction while shortening total fermentation times by up to one third. Also beginning in '96, all of Fantino Barolos spent their first year in new oak. In '95, in comparison, Fantino did a more traditional fermentation, and the wines were aged in a mix of old and new barriques "The '96 Barolos will be immortal," says Fantino. "They are more complex wines than the '97s, despite the fact that everyone is going on about the '97s." Incidentally, Fantino believes that the '96 Monpra, his nebbiolo/barbera/cabernet blend aged entirely in new barriques has the structure and freshness to rank with the outstanding '89, but says it too early to tell. This estate's Barolo from the great Ginestra vineyard in Monforte has been consistently outstanding in recent vintages.