2005 Barolo Lazzarito

Luca Currado describes 2005 as an inconsistent vintage because the October rains divided the early part of the harvest, which was quite good, from the latter part, which was more complicated. I was quite surprised with the Lazzarito, which was especially brilliant in this tasting. The Lazzarito and Rocche are both vibrant and have plenty of life ahead.

As spectacular as Luca Currado's Barolos have been in recent vintages, consumers should not miss his barbera bottlings, especially those from 2007. On my visit this year, Currado pointed out that his family was one of the first to replant barbera in some of the area's top sites. And their approach to growing and vinifying barbera has changed dramatically in recent years. "Previously we extracted too much," Currado admitted. "Now we're looking to make floral, minerally wines. We used to leave less vegetation on the vines, and the sun worked on the skins and resulted in jammy wines. Now we do a better job of protecting the berries." Currado typically lets his wines do their malolactic fermentation in barriques, then ages them in a combination of barriques and larger Slavonian barrels holding 25 to 40 hectoliters. Currado noted that his family owns or rents vines in all nine villages of Barolo, including 15 cru vineyards, but although they have vinified all of these crus separately since 2000, they generally bottle only five or six vineyard-designated wines, which are selections of casks that most clearly showcase those vineyards. Currado told me he likes the 2005 vintage "because it's old-style Barolo: it reminds me of the wines I drank when I was young. They have acidity and tannins and they're a little aggressive. They're like a Ducati: you feel the power and the emotion. They remind me of the wines of Bartolo Mascarello, Rinaldi and my father." Two thousand six, he added, was a slightly warmer season than 2005. "The wines have less acidity than the 2005s; they're like a blend of '04 and '05. Consumers will probably prefer them to the '05s for their roundness and luxuriousness."

Vietti has long been an elite, reference-point producer in Piedmont but in recent years brothers-in-law Luca Currado and Mario Cordero have taken major steps to further elevate the quality of their wines across the board. My tasting with Luca Currado encompassed 20-plus Barolos covering vintages 2005 through 2008, including multiple parcels the estate uses for its multi-vineyard Barolo Castiglione. All of the wines were potentially outstanding and some will doubtless turn out to be profound. Vietti fans have much to look forward to in coming years, the biggest decision here will be making choices among a large number of truly special wines. For starters, the 2005s aren't too far behind the spectacular 2004s. Unfortunately there will be no Barolo Riserva Villero as the vineyard was damaged by hail. The Barolos are fermented in stainless steel, then racked into French oak barriques for the malolactic fermentations. The wines are then moved into Slavonian oak casks where they complete their aging. Over the last few years Currado has gradually lengthened maceration times and taken a more moderate approach to French oak, while limiting yields dramatically, all of which has resulted in an extremely consistent set of Barolos that are easily among the region's finest. As an aside, long-time visitors to the property will be happy to learn that a much needed renovation to the tasting room is complete. The new facility is strikingly beautiful.