19 Elio Altare [Barbera d’Alba] After watching the Barolo Boys documentary on Amazon - rec’d in another thread on WB - I decided to try one of the aforementioned producers non nebbiolos, since they were chatted up during the 1.5 hour show. I’ve also been reading an old Belfrage book on the wines of Northern Italy, which pushed me to explore a few of these too. This is Altare’s base barbera, from younger vines 10-30 years old, not his single vineyard old vines nor multi Piedmontese varietal blends. It’s a 100% barbera, and I suppose is an introduction to their house (oaky!) style. 1500 cases are made of this sandy, calcerous soil driven wine which gets 5 months in used French oak barriques. On the first night, the smell of the oak is overpowering … and uncomfortable. On the 2nd night it becomes slightly more tolerable, with food, as its also very high in apparent acidity to my palate. The color in ruby, the bottle is heavy with a deep punt, and it seems intended for moderate aging. I find there is a spicy, cinnamon flavor here and then some raspberry liqueur. By the third night it becomes more drinkable, and is best with food. It was instructive to try, and for those who like higher acid modern Italian wines, likely hits the spot. I tend to enjoy a glass of wine while either cooking or reading, and less at the table so this Altare is not in my wheelhouse. I’d give it a B, and its not a repurchase/reconsume.
I realize fans of his might just say these need a few years to shake out and integrate better. That’s a fair rebuttal. Maybe I would like this more at age 5, with a bowl of bucatini. I feel like Renato Ratti’s supermarket barbera drink better on release personally.