With Stephanie and Roberto. I had coordinated our visit with Stephanie, who ably translated Roberto's answers to our questions (Roberto clearly understands far more English than he lets on). He's a man of few words, but it is so obvious that he is on top of the game, knows where he wants to go, and knows how to get there. There were a few hilarious moments near the end of our tasting when there was a brief mention of the modernists where Roberto became very animated.

The wines at Giacomo Conterno see at most a day in stainless steel, when they are transferred from (as best as I could tell Stockinger botti) to the bottling line. No fining or filtering, just the slight racking process that ensues from the transfer. Fermentation takes place in Stockinger vats without temperature control, though delestage will be done to cool off overheating must. Grapes are generally picked throughout the day, though in 2011 they were picked in the morning thanks to the high temperatures. They punch down 2-3 times a day, manually.

The last dolcetto made here was in 2000, and there was a one-off experimental white made in 1989. The estate concentrates on nebbiolo and barbera, with 9 and 5 ha in Francia, and 2 and 1 ha in Cerretta, respectively.

The corks go through an intense sorting process. The unprinted and untreated corks are weighed, then go through a visual inspection, and then laser-etched, with the vintage on the "uglier" side, so that the better, unmarked, side comes in contact with the wine. Roberto uses expensive starting materials, with the corks themselves costing 1-2 euro apiece. About 3% of the corks fail to pass the above procedure, a cost that the estate swallows.

With respect to the Nervi purchase, there are now 27 ha in Gattinara, planted to 100% nebbiolo on volcanic soils. The target is about 100k bottles a year.

Roberto likes the 2015s more than other producers (by his measure), and compares them favourably to the 2011.

As far as the Monfortino goes, days before picking, certain parcels are chosen from the Francia (and now possibly the Arione) vineyard, and these better parcels are fermented separately, at a higher temperature and for longer. This is done every year, but if the quality is substandard, the juice is mixed back into the Francia, as was done in 2012. When this blending occurs, the product is homogenized, so there is no special bottle of the 2012 that contains more Monfortino juice. Roberto wants to keep the number of products low. There are no plans for a Cerretta riserva, as there isn't enough volume, and doing so would create the extra label.

We were hosted here by Sophie, who is relatively new to the estate, but clearly had good knowledge of the wines and processes at this fabled estate.

There is a relatively new facility on the Via XX Settembre that was built a few years ago, across from the actual residence.

Needless to note, the wines are all done in neutral oak, though Dante is doing some experiments, fermenting some of the wines in cask (they are fermented in stainless steel).

The smallest production here is the Rabaja, with about 28 hL. Besides that, there is the Asili, Falletto, and the Vigna Le Rocche. There isn't much appetite to expand, and the one-off bottlings that Bruno made aren't really on the radar right now. Half of the production is the Arneis white wine, which is about 300k bottles, and is done in a separate facility because of the different needs between red and white. The red spumante (which Bruno made as a challenge to himself) has been extinct for a few years now; the white is still made.

Riservas are declared initially, and if they aren't good enough at some point, they are declassified back to white labels. Most of the Barolo and Barbaresco wines are bottled in July. In 2015, there will be no riservas, and sometimes for commercial reasons, a riserva won't be produced either. The 2014 Vigna Le Rocche red label should be released in 2020.

There's a small little tasting room at the base of the Torre di Barbaresco, and being the tourists we were, we stopped by to check it out.

We were hosted by Elena, who first went through the lineup with us, then walked us through the winery. She described the history of the estate in very much detail, and especially the strangeness of the winery being located in Monchiero (essentially outside of the Barolo region), while the grapes were mostly all in Castiglione Falletto. The main driver of the story was that Monchiero was once upon a time a much more important industrial town, as evidenced by the train station, and the logistics of getting the wine to market were quite important for her grandfather, who purchased the building that housed the Cantina in 19(5)9 (my handwriting is illegible on this point). It helped that this building had thick walls and some humidity as well.

We asked a few questions about climate change and Elena noted that after 2003, the winemakers here are more prepared for hot growing years and aren't as likely to be caught off guard anymore. Despite year-to-year variation, she also remarked that from 20-30 years ago, the harvests are coming in about 5-7 days earlier (a common refrain among many of the winemakers who we asked the same question to).

Onto the wines a little bit, the Santo Stefano di Perno is their lowest production wine, usually around 2000 bottles, while the Monprivato generally hits 14-20k bottles. To open the Barolos in the first year is a pity, and Elena suggests opening them with around 8 years after bottling. The wines are generally released at the end of the year, and the house style is characterized by finesse, silkiness, and approachability. The wines are "never violent". The 2015 Barolos will be bottled at the end of July and released at the end of this year.

The Ca d'Morrissio is a specific parcel within Monprivato, and is vinified separately from the Monprivato, though in some years, it is blended back into the "base" cuvee if the quality is not deemed sufficient. There's generally a production of about 3000 bottles, and the plot is close to the original Mascarello house in Castiglione Falletto, which is now used to house tractors and other vineyard equipment. Most of the grapes here are the michet clone.

Everything is fermented in fiberglass-lined concrete, excepting the Monprivato, which goes into stainless steel.

I could have sworn I wrote down our host's name (it wasn't one of the Cavallottos, alas), but I couldn't find it and alas she will have to remain nameless. Regardless, she was incredibly informative about all the aspects of the estate, and answered all our questions.

We started our tour by going through the fermentation and cellar areas. There are stainless steel vessels and rotofermenters to do the initial fermentation, and concrete lined with fiberglass is used for the malolactic fermentation. The wines are put into large botti, after throwing out the sediment. Destemmed grapes are put into the rotofermenters, which gently rotate so as not the break the seeds and release the tannins into the fermenting juice. Fermentation is temperature controlled, and is never allowed to go above 29C. The maceration of nebbiolo takes around 28-30 days, barbara 10-15, and freisa/dolcetto 3-5.

There is a small plot planted to pinot noir and chardonnay (it came with the purchase of the Vignolo vineyard in 1989). The vines were planed in 1972. These are the clones used in champagne, and the plot is north-facing. The grapes here are fermented (separately, for the chardonnay and Pinnero) in stainless steel for 6 months. These wines don't see oak to preserve the freshness, and there is a production of about 5k bottles a year.

The San Giuseppe vines are on average 60-70 years old, with the oldest vines planted back in 1935. They are all American rootstock.

The botti used here are all Slovenian oak, and range from 20-100 hL and are around 40 years old. They all come from the same cooper, Garballotto, in Veneto. There is a plot of forest rented (either by the cooper or by Cavallotto, my notes are unclear) so that there is available oak to make new botti if necessary. The freisa, nebbiolo, dolcetto, and barbera all go into the oak. Every year, the botti are cleaned with hot water, but every 3-4 years, someone goes into the botti to scrape off any sediment that is built up. Wines are racked from botti to botti to make sure "they don't get used to the barrel size." With new barrels, they are filled with water for the first 3-4 years, then barbera, before being used for the nebbiolo wines.

The cellar is maintained at 60-70% humidity. Because it is dug into the Bricco Boschis hill itself, there are some "windows" that are exposed directly to the underground dirt where you can see the stratification of the soil. The dirt is fairly damp, which provides the humidity in the cellar.

The 2015 vintage is considered very good here, and while not classical, it is still very fresh and elegant. The riservas will be released in two years. In 2014, no Barolo was produced, and all the nebbiolo was declassified into Langhe because hail destroyed about 70% of the crop. The San Giuseppe yields about 8-9k bottles a year, and if there is more quantity, magnums and other large sizes will be made. With regards to the 2018 harvest, there was a lot of concern it was going to rain, but it never really did for more than half a day. There are three small weather stations in the vineyards to provide a continuous stream of weather data. In 2013, there was no Langhe Nebbiolo produced, because the quality was so good. Similarly, in 2016, there is very little Langhe Nebbiolo as well.

Besides the US, Japan and Scandinavia are large markets for Cavallotto.

Our tour with Fabio started in the fermentation room, where there were 7 open-top fermentation tanks. The wines undergo a manual punch down, with some pumpovers when the yeast needs oxygen. The dolcetto and Monvigliero see whole cluster fermentation, and the Monvigliero is foot-tread, so as not to break the stems, which would release unwanted tannins into the wine. The fermentation tanks themselves are 15 years old, and they are used 2-3 times each harvest, for the different grapes. They are also cleaned every year before harvest.

In total, the estate has 15-16 ha of vineyards, with most of them in Verduno. There is currently some work going on at the winery, to join the two portions of the cellar with a tunnel.

Sauvignon blanc and pelaverga are raised in stainless steel, and the rest of the stainless steel tanks are used for blending before bottling. There were a few tonneaux and an acacia barrel, which were used for a special sauvignon blanc bottling.

The single-vineyard Monvigliero and Cannubi have been bottled since 1982, even though the vineyards were bought in the early 1900s.

The Monvigliero's stem inclusion was already done by Fabio's grandfather, and while Fabio's father experimented with not using whole cluster, he was unsatisfied with the results and reverted to whole cluster. The period without stems was 1973-82. However, since the mid-1800s to early 1900s, stem inclusion was regular because it was easier. With the invention of the destemmer, everyone moved to destem the wines, creating the paradigm we know today.

For Fabio, he enjoys the wines at 7-20 years, and prefers having the freshness to balance out the food. Older wines he prefers a glass of after dinner. Currently, he suggests the 2007 and 2011 to be ready to drink, but is also fully conscious that he (and many other winemakers) like the wines younger than most.

We asked a few questions about historical changes, and he noted that with climate change, the concentration of good vintages has increased drastically (from a few in the 1970s and 80s) to a much higher density in the 2010s. As well, there is better overall technology and yields are lower now. He mentioned that with his parents generation, the market wanted lots of cheap wine, but nowadays, the market is demanding higher quality. I got a sense that he was very happy with this trend, and that he is genuinely happy to be asked by the market to craft better and better wines. There was also some commentary on alcohol levels, which he remarked were elevating almost everywhere in Europe. The first 15% abv wines that Burlotto ever made were in 2011 -- the Cannubi and Barolo classico.

Again, I managed to miss our host's name, but she was very knowledgeable about the Vajra history and winemaking practices, demonstrating many of her points with that 3D Barolo map that all the wineries and stores seem to have these days.

In any case, the Vajra family has been in Barolo since 1880, but the winemaking facility was built in 1985 (I should mention that Vajra is undergoing some construction right now). As a 15-year-old, Aldo Vajra was sent from Torino to Barolo to avoid some of the political troubles in 1968. Here, he grew passionate about the land and became one of the first city-dwellers to move back to Barolo (when the story seems to be so much of the opposite happening). In the 1970s, Aldo worked as a farmer and sold grapes, and the first wines were made in 1985. The reason there are so many grape varieties at Vajra was that Aldo analyzed each vineyard to choose the best variety to plant. Our guide also remarked the Vajra was the most modern of the traditionalists and most traditional of the modernists.

The cellar is mostly composed of botti, though there are tonneaux and barrique (not necessarily neutral) which contain wine used to top up the botti. Barolos can be aged for up to 42 months, but there is no defined strategy for aging.

In 1971, Vajra obtained organic certification, but lost it over the years, as it was difficult to control how neighbouring growers were treating their grapes, and those treatments may have spread to Vajra's vineyards.

Vajra owns plots in Bricco delle Viole, Ravera, in Novello, and with the 2015 vintage a new Coste di Rose (sp?). There are also holdings in Fossati, La Volta, and into Alba. Their Baudana estate makes a Baudana and Cerretta.

I noticed while touring the cellar that there is a rose. Initially, it was 100% nebbiolo, but it was too tough and tannic, so now it is 50% nebbiolo and 50% pinot noir.

Including Baudana, the estate produces about 400k bottles a year over 21 labels.

Unfortunately, I was feeling slight iffy at this point and opted to sit out of the tasting, missing, of course, what can only be the brilliant 2015. However, that extra time gave me a chance to catch a second wind and refresh for our next visit.

We met with Carlotta, who with her sister Marta, now ably run the operation, though Carlotta mentioned that a lot of her time is now unfortunately taken up by paperwork.

The cantina has 6 ha of vineyards, which is the same amount of land that Carlotta's grandfather had, apart from a small 2000-square-meter parcel that was purchased between then and now. The house and cellar were built between 1910-16. All of the vineyards are in the Barolo commune, within a distance of 2 km. There are holdings in Brunate (1.2 ha), Cannubi-San Lorenzo, Le Coste, and Ravera di Barolo (3 ha of a total of 4.5 ha). The Ravera parcel is half nebbiolo and half other red grapes. It is also the only south-east facing parcel (the rest are all south facing). These aspects mean that there is generally no problem ripening the grapes, and in fact, ripening occurs earlier now. In the 50s, generally, nebbiolo would be harvested in the second half of October, but now, it happens in the first. Nebbiolo is the first grape to bud break, and the last grape to be harvested.

Earlier, it was much more important to grow the "cheap" varieties, because it meant better cash flow.

From the four vineyards, there are always two Barolos, and blending has always been part of the philosophy here. The blends create more harmony for the wines, since single vineyard parcels can have unbalanced characteristics. For example, the Brunate is very austere and has high acidity, so Le Coste is blended in to reduce those characteristics.

In 1992, the wines were labeled with the vineyards, but that had to be removed in 2010 because of further labelling law changes. Now, only a single vineyard can be put on the label. As a result, the Brunate-Le Coste is now just the Brunate (there was only 15% Le Coste in that wine), but the Cannubi San Lorenzo Ravera does not contain 85% of a single vineyard, so has been renamed Tre Tine (three open vats).

The separate vineyards are fermented and vinified as separately as possible, and the final blends are prepared in stainless steel, about one month before bottling. The fermentation processes for all the vineyards is the same, with full destemming and natural fermentations. Punchdowns happen twice a day. The fermentation takes 7-10 days, but skin contact is kept for 25-30 days. (In 2014, this took 21 days, but 30 days in 2016.) The fermentation is open top. The other red varieties are fermented in stainless steel, between 7-10 days, with barbera getting 15 days maximum. Dolcetto and ruche spend all year in stainless steel, but the barbera and freisa get 6 months in steel and 6 months in botti. The Langhe nebbiolo is young vine fruit from Ravera (a plot regrafted with nebbiolo in 2007). It gets a shorter fermentation (if the Barolo gets 30 days, the Langhe nebbiolo gets 25). Barolos are aged in botti for three years, the Langhe nebbiolo half of that.

The Brunate vines were replanted in 1980, Le Coste and Cannubi San Lorenzo in 1986, and Ravera in 1986, 1992, and 2007.

We made some jokes about chinato.