2000 Barolo Brunate

Elio Altare has always been a huge proponent of the 2000 vintage. Retasting his 2000s, it's easy to see why. The wines have great intensity of fruit, approachable personalities and plenty of structure to support continued cellaring.

Exploring Brunate is the first in a series of articles in which I will take an in-depth look at the historically famous vineyards in the Barolo and Barbaresco production zones. I chose Brunate because it is a vineyard that is owned by many producers, so it is possible to taste several interpretations of this site. I was curious to learn if the wines shared any common traits or if the producers' styles and/or vintage might overwhelm the specific qualities of the vineyard. There are three tastings in this section: a horizontal tasting of the 2000 vintage Brunate Barolos, Elio Altare's Barolo Brunate vintages 1999-2001 and Marcarini's Barolo Brunate vintages 1996-2001. Note that some wines appear in more than one tasting in this section and in Issue 2 overall. I have included notes of each wine as I wrote them for each specific tasting. Some of the notes and scores for the same wine will vary because the context of the tastings was different. By all accounts, Brunate is one of the most storied vineyards in Piedmont. As far back as 500 years ago, Brunate had been identified as producing wines of special character. An old map from the 1477 La Morra land register shows the town's vineyards as they were known at the time, including Brinata (Brunate), Rocha (Rocche dell'Annunziata), Gateria (Gattera), and well as other well-known crus. By comparison, we have to wait until 1505 to see La Serra and 1524 to see Cerequio officially recognized. Brunate is located on the border between the towns of Barolo and La Morra, although most of the vineyard is considered to belong to La Morra. Brunate features a mostly southern exposure although some portions face southeast. The vineyard measures about 25 hectares and altitude ranges from 353 meters to 239 meters. Manuel Marchetti of Marcarini says the wines of Brunate are usually “austere, yet ethereal, notes of spices, mint, licorice, and balsamic are all very typical.” In fact, many of the wines do show those flavors. Davide Asselle of Roberto Voerzio says “Brunate is a bit like people from here. We can be tough and cold at first, but then we warm up over time.” Within the context of La Morra Barolos, the Brunate wines may seem tough initially, but they possess sweet tannins that make the wines relatively accessible with age.

Elio Altare realized a long-standing dream when he began to produce a Barolo from this storied vineyard. This mini-vertical of Altare's Barolo Brunate was very insightful in gaining a better of sense of the characteristics of the 1999-2001 vintages. While all the wines are outstanding, the 1999 is truly special. Of his 1999, Altare says it is “probably the best I have made so far.”

Critics of new-wave Barolos that are fermented quickly in rotofermenters [usually, stainless steel cylindrical vats in which pigeage is done by means of a propeller that rotates inside the vat; in some cases, the entire tank itself slowly revolves] owe it to themselves to taste and follow Altare's superb wines, which provide significant early appeal and have proven to offer at least medium-term aging potential. Altare clearly would prefer to do as little extraction as possible to avoid getting wines whose tannins stand in the way of their early accessibility. As he describes it:"Why carry out longer fermentations, get tougher tannins, and then have to fine the wines to get them back into balance?Is it better to make a wine that will be better after 20 years than one that will be better for its first 20 years?"Altare noted that it's the wine media, through its consistent praise for his wines, that has enabled him to do short fermentations, and he maintains that his wines have aged just fine. He typically does just three days or so of maceration for his Arborina and five or six for Brunate, which he says requires more extraction. The wines are racked for the second time after they finish their malolactic fermentations in stainless steel in March, and then go into barriques, 20% of which are new, for 18 to 20 months of what he describes as "a Burgundian elevage. "During this period, the wines normally are not racked. Instead, Altare uses micro-oxidation if the wines become reduced; on the whole, he prefers "a natural reduction" so that he doesn't have to use SO2. His wines then spend their final several months back in cuve before being bottled. Altare describes the 2000s as elegant wines that are more ready to drink than the '99s. The 2001s, he adds, are sturdier wines that are midway between the fleshier 2000s and more serious, tannic 1999s. (Marc de Grazia; numerous importers, including Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; and Estate Wines Ltd. , San Rafael, CA)

Altare was in a contemplative mood when I stopped by on a quiet Monday afternoon, and he spent a good half-hour summing up the last 20 years of progress in the Barolo appellation (eventually I had to remind him that I wanted to taste his wines). "Nebbiolo is more tannic, more astringent, than pinot noir; thus we use shorter macerations," said Altare, in answer to my first question about whether quick extraction of color through the use of rotofermenters compromises the aging potential of Barolo. "What I am sure of, from my own experience, is that the wine is better for at least its first 15 years, maybe 20. You know, wine is an interpretation; you can never satisfy everyone. Why does wine have to be tannic, acid, hard? I like wine that's elegant, perfumed, fruity, balanced. It's a drink of pleasure, period. We don't tell people how to eat; why should we tell them what kinds of wines they should be drinking?"Altare, who lists his major influences as Burgundy, Angelo Gaja and Paul Pontallier, told me he first used a bit of barrique for his Barolo in 1985, then by 1990 arrived at the 80/20 ratio of used and new barrels that he still uses today. He made it clear that he has no rule on the length of the maceration. "We need to adapt the number of days on the skins to the conditions of each year. For example, in 1994 I did only 40 hours of maceration and today I love these wines. In 1998, the wines spent five days on their skins at a very cool 25 to 28 degrees [centigrade], maybe too cool. In '99, the temperature was more like 32 to 35 degrees." (Marc de Grazia; numerous importers, the most important of which are Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; and Estate Wines Ltd., San Rafael, CA)