1998 Barolo Gattera

The Cordero brothers, Gianni and Enrico, have radically changed vinification and elevage in recent years, primarily to produce less aggressive wines. "In the early '90s, we didn't think that barriques were the answer," Enrico Cordero told me in September. "But we have discovered that if you use barriques with brains, and mix new and used barrels, you can make nice wines. Still, it essential to start with good grapes and lower yields." The Corderos get the fermentations going quickly, which they say results in lower levels of volatile acidity. They push the temperature to 34oC for 12 hours, using the heat to extract color, then bring it down to 28o pumping over frequently to regulate the temperature. Total time on the skins is much shorter today than it was ten years ago. The wines then go directly into barrels (33% of which are new for the Monfalletto, 50% for the Enrico VI, and 100% for the new Bricco Gattera cuvee where the malolactic fermentations take place. x000D x000D The Corderos compare '98 to '97 "but better." Nineteen ninety-six yielded wines with great fat, Enrico adds, for drinking a couple of years after the '97s. Incidentally, Cordero noted that the weather in '98 favored the northern part of the Barolo appellation, especially the area in and around Castiglione Falletto; it was a bit too hot, he said, in the southern and western portions of the Barolo zone.