2004 Larigi

Although Elio Altare is best known for the superb Barolos he crafts from the Arborina and Brunate vineyards, his entire range is among the most consistently brilliant in Italy. This truly once in a lifetime retrospective tasting traced the development of Altare's Vigna Larigi, an old-vine Barbera made from a tiny one-hectare plot on the Arborina hillside. For the occasion Altare opened every vintage of Larigi from 1985 to 2006 - with the exception of the 1983 and 1984, which could not be located – a rare event by any measure, most importantly because Altare himself had never tasted so many vintages of the wine in one sitting. All of the bottles came from Altare's personal collection, meaning that provenance was unparalleled. Readers will note that I have refrained from providing drinking windows for that very reason, as it is nearly impossible to replicate the sheer joy and profoundness older, perfectly-stored bottles offer. Still, there is a more important lesson to learn here, and it is that if purchased upon release and stored properly, top vintages of Larigi are capable of providing 20+ years of fine drinking. Needless to say, this tasting provided a unique look at the career of one the world's great vignerons. Altare remains perhaps the most ardent proponent of the modern school of winemaking in Piedmont. He was among the first producers to shorten fermentation times radically, use French oak for his wines and demonstrate that Barbera could yield wines of far greater pedigree than the over-cropped, acidic versions that were the norm when he was starting out. Altare's role in inspiring an entire younger generation of growers to estate-bottle their wines and leave behind the production of grapes and bulk wine can't possibly be overestimated. One of the frequent criticisms hurled at Altare over the years was that his wines wouldn't age. That misguided view has been proven wrong time and again by the splendid maturation of Altare's Barolos from the 1980s, as it was again on this day with a simply superb set of Barberas. As Larigi ages, it takes on a surprising level of complexity in its aromas and flavors, and the 100% new French oak becomes virtually undetectable, especially in the very finest vintages.

I caught up with Elio Altare on his birthday, and in the middle of his 41st harvest. He was in a contemplative mood, taking a leisurely half hour to draw a distinction between the true vigneron who physically works the land and has nowhere else to go and the new breed of merchants who buy into an area, use up the land, and then move on to the next hot thing. Reluctantly, I had to remind him that I would also love to taste his wines. Altare considers the 2004 Barolos to be complete wines, comparing them to the '96s in acidity. "There was never a problem with these wines," said Altare, adding that the Barolos were racked only four times prior to being bottled in August of this year. In comparison, he went on, the 2001s are sturdier and "very Barolo," while the 2000s are "more like pinot noir. " (Like many of his colleagues in Barolo, Altare is a long-time Burgundy lover. ) Altare succeeded in 2003 by carrying out what he described as four harvests. "The sugars were already 14% in August, but there wasn't enough color and the tannins were still green," he told me. Eventually, he picked his Arborina vines over a period of three weeks, from September 7 through 27. "No fruit, not even peaches or apples, is all ripe at the same time. We took this very seriously in 2003. " (Marc de Grazia; numerous importers, including Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; and Estate Wines Ltd. , San Rafael, CA)