SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch exults over the newly arrived wines from Barolo’s highly acclaimed 2013 vintage. Today’s wine will age for decades but is also intriguingly approachable now—who could ask for anything more, especially at this price?
In some ways, we had it easy last year: Exuberant, luxurious, impossible-to-resist wines from the 2015 vintage—a winner all over Europe—represented a huge cross-section of our daily offers. Luckily, Mother Nature blessed us with plenty to talk about this year, too: As we learned during our recent trip to France, 2016 was a similarly impressive (if much smaller) vintage in Burgundy, and as the first of those arrive, we’re also swimming in delicious 2013s from Italy’s two most prominent red wine zones: Barolo and Montalcino. The minimum aging requirements of these Italian icons are such that we’re just now seeing the wines in our market in earnest, and there’s a lot to be excited about. Barolo (and Brunello di Montalcino) from 2013 is wine you need in your cellar, plain and simple. Vinous Media’s Antonio Galloni called the vintage one of “sublime finesse and elegance” in Barolo, an assessment with which we wholeheartedly agree. Take today’s 2013 Barolo “Altenasso” from the tiny Cavalier Bartolomeo estate. This wine is all about finesse and elegance, which has not always been the case in recent Barolo vintages—these are intense wines to begin with, all the more so on a warming planet, so a relatively cool, longer growing season like 2013 is literally a breath of fresh air. Even at this young stage, the wine is a more even-handed, aroma-driven expression of Barolo’s Nebbiolo grape, dialing down the tannic/alcoholic ferocity that can sometimes characterize these wines. It is approachable now but also beautifully balanced and poised for lengthy cellar aging—all for less than $40. In my opinion, wine like this is a gift; I strongly recommend you treat yourself to some.
Cavalier Bartolomeo is named for its founder, who began making wines in the small hamlet of Garbellotto, in the village of Castiglione Falletto, in the 1920s. Third-generation proprietor Dario Borgogno farms just 4 hectares of Nebbiolo for Barolo, with holdings that include a parcel in Barolo’s “Cannubi-San Lorenzo” cru and the majority of “Altenasso,” in his hometown. The Altenasso site, just over four hectares in total, has a west-northwest orientation and is also known as “Garblet Suè,” or “Garbellotto Superiore,” which some Barolo lovers may find familiar thanks to a noteworthy bottling from the Brovia winery. The vineyard has a relatively gentle pitch to it, a lower average altitude, and a touch more fertility to its soils in comparison to some more-famous sites in Castiglione Falletto such as “Fiasco,” to which Altenasso is nearly adjacent. In many instances, Castiglione Falletto Barolos take on some of the hard-edged power of those from the commune of Serralunga, but this Altenasso, especially in ’13, has more in common with some of the more softly contoured produce of Barolo and La Morra.
Aged two years in a mixture of barrels of varying size and age, the 2013 Altenasso also spent more than a year in bottle before release. Right when the cork is pulled, and especially about a half-hour or so later, the wine’s perfume is floral and inviting, leading with bright fruit and a hint of baking spice and revealing darker, more mineral tones with time. Aromas of cherry kirsch, red and black currant, wild strawberry, blood orange, damp rose and violet petals, sandalwood, tar, and leather all jump from the glass and carry over to the medium-plus bodied palate. There’s no doubting this is Nebbiolo in terms of the alcohol and tannin, but those tannins are ripe and fine-grained and the alcohol gracefully checked by refreshing acidity. Such are the benefits of a long, relatively cool growing season—true physiological ripeness is a beautiful thing, lending the wine the balance it needs to go the distance. After 30-60 minutes in a decanter this wine blossomed quite nicely, shedding its subtle oak spice and revealing more fruit and florals; it’s impossible not to open a bottle or two now and watch it unfold over not just hours but days. Serve it cool, around 60 degrees, in Burgundy stems, and pair it with your best approximation of what you might order in Piedmont. I’m really a sucker for a classic Piedmont pasta dressing called
sugo d’arrosto—essentially the rich pan juices created from braising meat. Of course, braised short ribs would be a perfect partner for this wine, too. Maybe do both? Both sounds good. Cheers!
— David Lynch
