1996 Barolo La Serra

"Nineteen ninety-eight is like '96 in Barolo: both vintages are rather severe and full of mystery," opines director Manual Marchetti. "Nineteen ninety-nine is even bigger than '98, as well as more floral and elegant. The '97s are also large-scaled wines, but they are very approachable and are coming into harmony already. All of these recent vintages are very big."x000D x000D Marcarini changed its pumping-over approach beginning with the '98 vintage. In '96 and '97 the musts were pumped over by hand twice a day; in '98 an automated system that sprays the must onto the cap 24 hours a day without breaking it was introduced. The goal, according to Marchetti, "is to get the same polyphenols but less of a green taste in the mouth, more elegance." Total maceration times remain as long as previously-30 days in '98, an unusually long 45 in '97 and 27 in '96-with considerable post-fermentation maceration carried out "for stability." These are not hugely fleshy or freakishly concentrated wines, just highly aromatic, unforced Barolos that are accurate reflections of their respective vineyards. As Marchetti succinctly puts it: "We don't build wines." Marcarini is always among the last to pick nebbiolo, Marchetti adds. "In '97 and '98 we started on October 20; even in '99 we didn't begin until October 17."

According to director Manuel Marchetti, the 1997 vintage produced less floral, less penetrating Barolos than '96 but wines with impressive glyceral richness thanks to their high levels of alcohol. Maceration times were even longer than normal, and the conversion of sugar to alcohol was more efficient than usual, he adds. That is, grapes with potential alcohol of 14% finished their fermentations with very close to 14%. Interestingly, Marchetti says the '97s have healthier acids than the '95s (Marcarini began the harvest very late in '95, on October 27!). I asked Marchetti to describe the typical differences between his two Barolos, which come from two adjacent vineyards at the southern edge of La Morra. "La Serra is more floral," Marchetti explains. "Even though it develops truffle and leather and licorice notes with age, it will always retain its floral character. Brunate is spicier, and grows more ethereal and complex with bottle aging." x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D Nebbiolo lovers without the patience to age Barolo should check out Marcarini 1995 basic nebbiolo bottling, which sees no wood and offers quintessential varietal character and perfume. Plain nebbiolo is Barolo in blue jeans, Marchetti points out, but there much less of it these days because nebbiolo prices have gotten so expensive.