2011 Arte Langhe

Clerico had just begun harvesting the day I stopped by for a visit.His monumental winery is now finished and we tasted in his large, airy tasting room with a spectacular view of the vineyards.A bit of a breeze was blowing out the haze, and the distant mountains came into view as we tasted.Clerico told me he prefers 2009 to 2010 today, simply because the earlier year is more drinkable."I'm content with the 2010s," he said."But we would have liked to wait a bit longer to put them into bottle because more maturing would have softened the tannins."Still, added assistant winemaker Luciano Racca, the 2009s are generally a tad higher in acidity than the '10s.Racca noted that beginning in 2011 the estate has done longer, cooler macerations, with a "very slow spin of the rotofermenters--just four or five times a day--in order to avoid overextraction."While the Barolos are made in almost 100% new oak, Clerico has been working with better coopers since 2008, using longer-dried, less-toasted barrels from oak meant for the Burgundy market, which Racca says give less wood impact. (Importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com; Estate Wines Ltd., www.estatewinesltd.com)