Winemaker Notes
Very intense ruby red with garnet reflections. Fresh nose, rose petals, flowers, ethereal, light, and sweet. Warm and elegant, with smooth but intense tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2020 Barolo Arborina is a bright, focused wine that shows all the energy that is typical of this La Morra site, especially in its driving tannic profile. Dark cherry, spice, leather, menthol and dried flowers all come alive in the glass. Floral and savory notes add aromatic presence and breadth on the finish. I would give this a few years to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Elio Altare 2020 Barolo Arborina makes a bright first impression with lots of cherry fruit, cranberry and tart berry nuances. It offers underripe flavors that are much appreciated in a hot vintage such as this. A touch of mineral adds sharpness in the form of wet stone or petrichor. The Arborina showcases classic Nebbiolo flavors, with good volume, velvety tannins and apparent freshness. Only 5,200 bottles were created.
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Wine Spectator
Aromas of vanilla, resin and toasty oak lead off, followed by reticent flavors of cherry, raspberry, underbrush and iron. This comes together on the finish
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.