Elio Altare keeps some of the most meticulous weather notes of anyone I know in Piedmont, which makes a visit here always highly educational. Silvia Altare describes 2016 as a year with a long harvest that was the result of a drawn out flowering. Picking took place between October 4 and 12 in what was essentially two harvests. Two-thousand seventeen was a different story. Flowering took place over just four days, which is quite fast. The entire year was warm, especially in August, which led to a harvest that was about ten days earlier than normal. As for the wines, they are positively stunning across the board in both vintages. At a time when so many growers have shifted towards a more classic style, Silvia Altare told me she has no plans to change the approach that has made her family’s wines so highly coveted all over the world. It’s hard to argue with that, especially given how deeply personal and compelling these artisan wines are.
