2008 Barolo Lazzarito

The biggest news at Vietti is the recent acquisition of new parcels in Brunate and Lazzarito. Finding high quality plots in Piemonte's grand crus and then financing their purchase is a massive endeavor and a huge accomplishment. Luca Currado is quite open in his view that 2008 was a very challenging year in the vineyards, where the constantly changing weather required a nimble, flexible approach. Currado did quite a bit of bleeding to bring his wines into balance. I also tasted all of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Baroli. Of those vintages, the 2010s are shaping up to be heroic wines. Among the new releases I am less enthusiastic about the 2009 Barbere, wines that are good, but not as exceptional as they so often are.

Luca Currado describes his 2008 Barolos as "leaner, delicate wines with long, minerally finishes, close to pinot noir and more like the Barolos of the 1980s." He finds the 2005, 2006s and 2007s to be richer and more opulent. In my tasting here in September, the young 2008s were overshadowed by Currado's magnificent 2007s, which clearly benefited from a harvest on the early side, with healthy levels of natural acidity (in the range of 6 grams per liter). "Some later pickers had falling acidity levels in very warm conditions," noted Currado. "It's a mistake to consider 2007 as a hot vintage: the summer featured much lower degree days than 2006, and there were many cool nights in September."