Barolo, Brunate,

Elio Altare's 1998 Barolo Brunate is one of the highlights of the vintage. A wine of rare pedigree, this soft-textured Barolo caresses the palate with plenty of ripe red fruit, sweet spices and mint. Today the wine comes across as especially youthful, and with the context of the vintage it is one of the most vibrant wines I tasted. I am always amazed at the quality Altare achieves with what are essentially second-choice grapes from Marco Marengo's vines in the prestigious Brunate vineyard.