1996 Langhe Rosso Larigi

I have long believed the level of a producer can only be truly understood by looking at the small vintages, and this next set of wines is truly surprising. To be sure, none of the wines of the early 1990s is extraordinary, but they reveal so much about what it means to be a top-level grower. The 1996 Larigi is a rich, weighty Barbera that in many ways seems out of character for a cool vintage that produced so many stern, angular wines, but this is also the first important vintage in which Altare used rotary fermenters, something that is clearly present in the wine's sheer density and concentration. The 1996 Larigi remains fresh and vibrant, with persistent notes of sweetness and French oak that carry through to the finish.