2000 Barolo Brunate

Long-time readers know the late 1990s and early 2000s were a period of transition at Vietti. It was a time of experimentation with winemaking that led to the growth that now informs the spectacular wines of more recent vintages.

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.

Two years ago, even before I had a chance to taste this estate's 2001, Luca Currado told me that 2001 at his family's winery was a 100-point year. I am happy to report that the 2001 Vietti Barolos and Barbarescos are indeed a stunning group of wines, as complete as any I tasted in the Langhe in September. "This vintage offers the essence of Barolo," explains Currado, "a rare combination of power and freshness of fruit. The wines are beautiful now and will be beautiful in 15 to 20 years. " The Currados have redone and expanded their vinification facility and barrel cellars, and now can work virtually entirely by gravity (the barrels can even be brought up to the bottling area via an elevator). Since the 2001 vintage, the Currados are starting their Barolos in barriques and finishing them in botti, which they believe allows for the best possible combination of controlled oxidation and retention of fruit. But the use of barriques remains critical here:that's where the malolactic fermentations take place, and the lees are stirred until the March after the harvest-very unusual for the region. The dying yeasts release stamens, says Luca Currado, which are antioxidants and work in favor of wine longevity. Currado noted that the family carried out four green harvests in 2004, including a pruning just before the harvest to get more natural concentration in the fruit, a technique he described as Burgundian. "We don't use concentrators to get more color and extract," he explained. Vinification takes place almost entirely in vertical steel tanks, where frequent mechanical pumpovers are gentle enough not to break the seeds and stems. The macerations last 10 to 15 days, including a bit of cold maceration in the same steel tanks, with the Villero and Rocche cuvees spending closer to three weeks on their skins. Currado says the estate sold off its rotofermenters, keeping just one for possible use in an emergency. But the rotofermenters, he believes, do too much extraction and yield unbalanced wines.