Reading the Labels of Reading the Labels of Elio Altare

13 Pages·2011·1.93 MB·English

RReeaaddiinngg tthhee LLaabbeellss ooff
EElliioo AAllttaarree
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Elio Altare
TThhe offffiiciiall name ffor tthhe wiinery off EElliio AAllttare iis ““AAziiendda
Agricola Cascina Nuova Elio Altare”
(cid:131) “AAzziieennddaa AAggrriiccoollaa” mmeeaannss tthhaatt tthhiiss iiss aa wwiinneerryy tthhaatt ggrroowwss
its own grapes. All its wines are estate-bottled.
Elio Altare was one of the earliest leaders of the “modernist
movement”” in Barolo.
One of Altare’s innovations involved making a Nebbiolo
wwiinnee ffrroomm aa BBaarroolloo vviinneeyyaarrdd wwhhiicchh sstteeppppeedd oouuttssiiddee tthhee
legal bounds of what can be called “Barolo”.
So Altare makes two wines using the vineyard name
“Arborina”, one of which is a Barolo, one is not.
This has been a source of some of the confusion which we
hhooppee wwiillll bbee rreessoollvveedd iinn tthhiiss pprreesseennttaaiioonn.
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Altare’s Basic Barolo
Often referred to as “Altare
Barolo La Morra” which is
nott correctt.
The Altare winery is in the
ttoowwnn ooff LLaa MMoorrrraa,, bbuutt iinn
Barolo there is no notion of
a village designation (as in
BBuurrgguunnddyy)).
Also, this wine contains
ggrappes from Castilggione
Falletto as well as La Morra.
It should be referred to as
“AAllttaarree BBaarroolloo NNoorrmmaallee” oorr
“Altare’s Base Barolo”.
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Single-Vineyard Barolos: Cerretta
The Cerretta vineyard is in
the village of Serralunga.
This is Altare’s newest
Barolo bottling.
IItt wwaass ffiirrsstt bboottttlleedd oonn iittss
own in the 2005 vintage.
Vineyard name:
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Single-Vineyard Barolos: Brunate
Altare’s parcel in the
BBrruunnaattee vviinneeyyaarrdd iiss iinn tthhee
village of La Morra.
This was first bottled
separately in the 1995
vintage.
Vineyard name:
IItt wwaass nnoott bboottttlleedd iinn 11999977
or in 2002.
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Single-Vineyard Barolos: Arborina
VViineyardd name:
“Vigneto Arborina” refers
tto tthhe AArbboriina viineyardd iin
the village of La Morra.
“Barolo” clearly indicates
that this is a wine that
ccoonnffoorrmmss ttoo tthhee
standards for Barolo,
including 2 years of
ageiing bbeffore bbottttlliing.
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Non-Barolo Arborina Nebbiolo
Here, “Arborina” still refers to the Arborina vineyard in the
village of La Morra.
VViinneeyyaarrdd nnaammee::
“Langhe” and not
“Barolo” indicates that
this is a wine that does
NNOOTT ccoonnffoorrmm ttoo tthhee
standards for Barolo.
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Non-Barolo Arborina Nebbiolo
TThhe priimary reason tthhatt tthhiis wiine ddoes NNOOTT confform tto
Barolo standards is that it is aged for 18 months and not the
2 yyears reqquired for Barolo.
It is, however, aged in new French barriques for 18 months.
From the first vintage in 1986 until 1998, this was called
““Vigna Arborina””:
Now it is just “Arborina”:
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Altare Langhe Nebbiolo
Altare’s most basic Nebbiolo.
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Dolcetto d’Alba
100% Dolcetto
ggrapes from La Morra
and Dogliani.
Matured in stainless
steel tanks for 10
months.
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