2017 Barolo Gramolere

Vittore Alessandria's 2017 Barolos are among the finest wines of the vintage. Consistency is always a hallmark of top estates, and that is exactly what readers will find here. Alessandria's 2017s are deep, fleshy and full of character. The 2017s spent 30-35 days on the skins, with extended maceration in which the cap is floating, but not totally submerged. The malolactic fermentation was in steel, after which the wines were racked into cask and then bottled with 34 months in oak. "The challenge was keeping temperatures low in fermentation to help extend the ferments and retain as much freshness as possible," Alessandria told me. "Excess drought was more of an issue than the heat. Harvest was about 25 days ahead of 2016. Analytically, the 2017s are similar to the 2015s."