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Elio Altare

Piedmont, Piedmont, Italy

  • 298
    of the 245 000
    wine producers
    of the world

  • Weather

    9° C Overcast clouds

  • Time

    03:04 AM

  • Wine average?

    93 Tb

  • Country Ranking?

    60

  • Region Ranking?

    23

  • Popularity ranking?

    227

News

ANTONIO GALLONI VERTICAL TASTING ARBORINA 1984-2004

Several years in the making, this side-by-side retrospective of Elio Altare’s Barolo Arborina and Langhe Arborina provided the backdrop for an exploration of the career of one of Piedmont’s most ambitious growers. Known for taking a chainsaw to his father’s old casks in a fit of desperation, Elio Altare is one of the architects of what is often referred to as the “modern” school in Barolo, a movement created by a group of young growers in the 1980s who wanted to shake up Piedmont’s sleepy establishment. Although Altare has made dazzling wines for decades, when all is said and done his most enduring legacy may prove to be inspiring the numerous young growers who were emboldened to start estate bottling their production rather than selling fruit based on Altare’s success.

 

Elio Altare told me this tasting was critical for the future of the estate because it would either confirm or deny the validity of his ideology. I don’t see it quite as black and white as that. My distinct impression is that Altare views any change or even evolution of the estate’s philosophy as a repudiation of his ideas and the many battles Altare waged to champion them. But that is simply not so. No one can ever deny the beauty of the 1986 Larigi, the 1994 Langhe Arborina, or the results Altare was able to achieve in vintages like 1991 and 1992, when virtually all of the top estates of the time did not bottle any Barolo at all. That legacy will remain intact no matter what.

 

 

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History

Grandpa Giuseppe came to la Morra in 1948. The Altare family originally comes from the town of Dogliani, then in 1948 they bought the farm in La Morra. Back then, the estate covered 5 hectares of nebbiolo, barbera and dolcetto vineyards, along with some peach, hazelnut and apple trees, but those were times when orchards gave higher yield and more profit than vineyards.

 

Back then it wasn’t easy, given the economic crisis that lasted for years, Elio, along with other friends, decided to learn more about winemaking beyond the borders of Piemonte, trying to grab some of the success that those regions were enjoying. Their first trip to Burgundy, in January 1976, was a revelation, and when Elio got back home he knew there were major changes to be made. He wasn't afraid: he grabbed a chainsaw, as if it was a sword, and first he cut down the fruit trees in the orchard, then in the cellar he chopped up the big old wooden tanks into fire wood, this way he made room for his first brand new barrique.

 

His father Giovanni didn't understand him, his son's radical decisions were too far from his way of thinking, being from an older generation and poorer times, he was not able to accept what he thought was an offence against common sense and tradition, and he sought comfort in silence, he died in 1985 and tragically disinherited Elio.  Elio continued to work while he bought back the winery and vineyards from his siblings.

 

Elio stood firm then and still does today. Stubbornly he decided to change direction and to give a different interpretation to the family's wine, favoring elegance, finesse, and balance, following a strict regime in the vineyards, adopting new vinification and aging techniques in the cellar. The farm is still today family managed, under Elio' s supervision, we farm 10 hectares with an average production of 70.000 bottles.

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Winemaking

Our wines are simple and natural, and we would like you to know that: vineyards are cultivated without the use of any chemicals or pesticides (unless it’s strictly necessary) or any other substance that might interfere with the cycle of the vine or of the grapes growing.

We only use copper and copper sulphate, and we fertilize with organic cow manure.During the alcoholic fermentation we don’t inoculate with yeast, we only use our indigenous yeasts, to this follows a natural malolactic fermentation.

We don’t filter or clarify the wine.

We don’t use any substance that could modify the colour or the structure of the wine.

The sulphur level is way lower than what the Italian government would allow us to use.

We don’t apply biodynamic or similar methods, we simply work the vineyards and the vines how they have been working them for hundreds of generations.

 

Our first goal is our health and the health of the people that work with us, respecting the land and environment, because it’s from the vineyards that we get our only profit.

The landscape is the only patrimony that we get from our parents, and we have the duty and the moral commitment to preserve it as much as we can to be able to pass it to the next generations.

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Inside information

Through all these years the winery has maintained the original family run structure: since early 2000 Silvia, the eldest daughter is fully involved in the business, while Elena, the youngest daughter, moved to Germany where she is running now a small wine importing company.Elio, his wife Lucia, Silvia and the entire staff follow every single aspect of the work: in the vineyards from pruning to harvest, in the cellar from winemaking to sales, logistic, office work and marketing.

 

Elio, energetic and bubbly as 40 years ago, supervises on all the activities, but lately he has been focusing on some new challenging projects like: winemaking in Liguria - Cinqueterre, restoring an old abandoned village in Castelmagno (in the mountains between Piemonte and France), cheese making in Castelmagno, growing medicinal herbs, managing a vineyard in the higher Langa hills planted with an old obscure indigenous variety called “Liseiret” in order to make some sparkling wine, growing organic vegetable and fruits…

…this family will never run out of ideas and work!

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11 different wines with 48 vintages

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