2003 Barolo Lazzarito

The 2003 harvest got off to a very early start. Vietti harvested their old-vine La Crena Barbera on August 23rd, which is unheard of. In 2003, Vietti was at the beginning of what has proven to be a fabulous run of vintages. The 2003 Barolos, the Lazzarito in particular, shows an estate in transition. Proprietor Luca Currado served the 2003s from magnum, as he was expecting dinner guests that evening.

Following its recent purchases of more barbera in the Asti area, the Currado family now owns 43 hectares of vines. Luca Currado noted that this entitles Vietti to make 650,000 bottles per year, but in fact their actual production is less than 200,000-a testament to careful control of yields and strict selection for their top bottlings. According to Currado, "2004 and 2001 are two of the best vintages of the century," and I assume by that statement he was trying to say something stronger than merely "two of the best vintages of the past seven years"-particularly as I recall him describing 2001 as a "100-point vintage" a year after the harvest. "The dry, warm fohn wind in 2003 made for a lot of amarone-style wines in Piemonte," Currado added. "We were lucky to pick very early that year. " Incidentally, Currado told me that he ages the sheets of bark from which his corks will be made outdoors for two years. "This tightens the grain of the cork and kills the bugs, but it costs us up to 25% in lost volume. "

After a period of soul-searching in the 1990s in which the estate's wines lacked a clear sense of direction Vietti has come back with a vengeance. Today the wines show greater cons istency as well as a d istinct house style that is more defined than it has ever been under the direction of brothers-in-law Mario Cordero and Luca Currado. Vietti produced one of the finest 2003 Barbarescos with its Masseria, so it is no surpr ise that the 2003 Barolos are just as outstanding. The 2004 Barolos are the best wines th is h istoric estate has ever made, and the 2005s aren't too far behind. I continue to be impressed with the Barberas, which offer something for every palate and budget. Vietti's success across a large number of wines from diverse terroirs places it solidly within the top tier of Piedmont producers. “I am using less small oak for my Barolos than in the past,” says Luca Currado, who oversees the winemaking. “We producers used to tell ourselves that the new oak would ‘integrate' into the wines with time, but when I taste my wines and those of my colleagues, I realize that those super-oaked Barolos have never become integrated and never will.” As if h is considerable responsibilities at Vietti were not enough, Currado has embarked on a new project that is taking him to Tuscany – Cortona to be exact. The 2007 vintage is the first where he is working as a consultant for D'Alessandro, which has embarked on a project to make a more classic style of Syrah. It will be interesting to see what Currado does in Tuscany, but I know I am not alone in hoping it won't be accompl ished at the expense of h is Piedmont wines.