G.D. Vajra Barolo Albe 2021

Aldo Vaira, and his son Giuseppe, the two generations now managing the domaine, have an interesting specialty: Barolo from high altitudes. Even their residence is way up in Vergne, the highest-altitude village in the DOC. High altitudes have some well-known effects. The vines ripen later, so you get longer growing seasons and better acidities. You have thinner soils with rocky outposts, so you get more minerality. But here is a lesser-known consequence: You get quite a bit of variation in when the sun rises. The Vairas observe that in three of their vineyards, Fossati, Le Coste, and La Volta, the dawns are approximately 20 minutes apart. There are three dawns. Hence, they call the blend from these vineyards “Albe,” which is Italian for “dawns.” Cute, yes, but also profound. Barolo was traditionally blended because you wanted different parts to contribute to a greater whole. For this to work, you need a diversity of terroir. The dawns themselves, of course, don’t provide this diversit