There was a time, not long ago, when the Barolo region of Piedmont was one of the wine world’s most vintage-sensitive terroirs. Barolo’s noble red grape, Nebbiolo, is a late-ripener, and in a ‘continental’ climate to boot. Autumn rains and hail are perennial threats to a variety that doesn’t make its final push to physiological maturity until late October or November. In the past, four great vintages out of 10 would’ve been considered a success, but 2000-2010 was having none of that. The only real duds in that period were ‘02/’03 (with, as always, many individual exceptions), and the run of good luck has continued in more recent years.
Why mention all this? Because Barolo is not made in large quantities and its producers, historically, rarely had much in the way of ‘libraries’ of older vintages. That has changed, and somehow, despite Barolo’s ranking among the world’s elite wine collectibles, it’s still possible to acquire back-vintage wines at shockingly reasonable prices. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity to snap up some of this 2006 Barolo from Eraldo Viberti when their importer brought some over to taste 3 months ago. We bought all we could, and the wine just arrived from Europe. Sourced directly from the winery’s cellars and right in its sweet spot at 10 years old, this is a perfect opportunity to experience a sound mature wine without going broke.
Eraldo Viberti’s tiny 6-hectare property is in the picturesque village of La Morra, where some of Barolo’s prettiest, most ‘Burgundian’ wines are produced. Up until 1987 he sold its grapes to the local cooperative, after which he began releasing wines under his own label. He farms organically, and of his holdings only about two hectares are Nebbiolo. This 2006 is his ‘base’ Barolo, an assemblage of fruit from three different La Morra vineyard sites that spent 24 months in small oak barriques and another year in bottle before its (original) release. These bottles had not moved from the winery’s cellars until their recent shipment to us.
Conventional wisdom on La Morra is that it produces Barolos with a little less ferocity in their youth—the vineyards in this village have south/southeast orientations, meaning they take in morning sun when the vine is at its most active. Tannins in La Morra wines tend to be a little softer in comparison to villages such as Serralunga or Monforte, and while some wines in some vintages are built to go longer, I feel like this 2006 is peaking right now. In the glass it’s a classic pale crimson with a goodly amount of orange ‘bricking’ at the rim (totally normal for Nebbiolo of this age), and at first, right after pouring a glass, I found it to be a little closed on the nose. But that did not last—after five minutes it burst forth with super-ripe wild strawberry, black cherry, and berry compote notes, which yielded the floor to a resolutely savory mix of fennel, rose petal, red tobacco leaf, leather, and dusty earth. The tannins have matured and softened, and on the palate it is smooth and sappy, still lifted by its acidity. As it opens up, it becomes more resolutely savory: it vaguely resembles old red Burgundy at first before heading in a much more earthbound direction, with notes of dried porcini mushrooms and cigar wrapper lingering in the heady finish.
Decanting is not needed, simply open the wine 30 minutes or so before serving in large Burgundy bowls; it opens up quickly, filling the glass with complex, classic Barolo aromatics. There are about a million food options to pair with it, but its intoxicating aromas and supple texture are best enjoyed with something simple, like this
Wild Mushroom Risotto. Just try not to finish the bottle before you’re done stirring the rice!
