We've long championed Marco Marengo's beautifully Burgundian set
of Barolos. Year in year out they offer style, grace and poise, serving to
highlight all that is great about La Morra through their elegance, clarity of
fruit and super refined tannic structures. They also remain particularly good
value. Even more so given the recent revelation...
It is no secret
that Elio Altare's Brunate fruit comes from Marco Marengo's vines. The
arrangement has gone on for years, fruit being separated by hand in the
vineyard before making its way to the individual estates. When probing this set
up further at our Italian En Primeur tasting last Tuesday, something rather
interesting came to light. No money changes hands for the fruit. Rather a
portion of the harvest from Elio Altare's Arborina vineyard is donated as
payment. Never being enough to bottle as Arborina outright, we wondered where
the fruit went. “Oh, it just goes into the straight Barolo” was the answer. No
wonder it’s so good...
