Elio Altare
Elio Altare is one of Italy's greatest winemakers. His wines have come to define the changes that have taken place in Barolo over the last 30 years. He inspired a generation of younger producers to commit to quality in the vineyards and bottle their own estate wines. The changes Elio championed in the 70's: green harvesting, organic farming, and shorter macerations are commonplace today and have made Barolo a more rich, diverse, and higher quality wine- producing region. Altare Barolo, Barolo Arborina and Barolo Brunate are among the most prized wines of the area and put the supple, fragrant qualities of the La Morra commune on display. They're sensuous, rich, and age-worthy wines. In 2005 Elio released his first vintage of Barolo Cerretta, from the Serralunga commune in the eastern valley, where the soils influence the wines in very different ways than La Morra. It will be great to witness his hands and philosophies at play with vineyards from another commune that is counter point to the style he is used to. Elio is a tireless spirit and still today is striving to push the boundaries of what Nebbiolo can do. He is experimenting with a few barrels of a 100% hand destemmed Barolo from the Arborina vineyard and has recently acquired a few rows of vines in Cannubi..
Az. Agr. Elio Altare - no pesticides, fungicides or chemical treatments of any kind are used in the vineyard. Copper sulfite is used only in wet years to control fungus. Canopy management and low yields are employed every year to control sun exposure, and promote efficient aeration and drying for the clusters. This yields fruit that is more naturally resistant to disease. Altare vineyards are shared with other growers in La Morra. Az. Agr Veglio, Az. Agr. Corino all farm their holdings directly next to the Altare and farm organic as well. It is a communal effort to farm organically in these vineyards.
In the cellars the Altare family uses only the naturally occurring, 'ambient' yeast for fermentation, the wines are not clarified or fined with any agents.
