Of all the wines of Elio and Silvia Altare’s we’ve sold and enjoyed over the years (nearly five decades worth, in fact), it wasn’t until a few vintages ago that we ever even had as much as a sniff of their really terrific Langhe Nebbiolo. Until then, we had to go all the way to Italy for that pleasure.  Silvia told us that it was all sold locally, and that she just didn’t have enough to consider exporting to the States.  With a production of barely 8000 bottles and this kind of quality and reputation, you can see why.  Finally, though, we wore her down and managed to obtain a small parcel of, I think, the 2016 vintage, and we’ve been on the Altare Langhe Nebbiolo train ever since. The juicy, luscious 2024 is now in stock.  As you probably already know 2024 won’t go down as one of the region’s most auspicious vintages.  The crowning ignominy after a spring and summer of one malady after another was torrential rain at harvest.  But Silvia persevered, bringing in a very small Nebbiolo crop, winnowed down even further by her berry-by-berry inspection at the crush pad.  The results, particularly at the Langhe Nebbiolo level, are honestly amazing.  Silvia’s Langhe Neb comes from a parcel of east-southeast-facing vines in La Morra right off the balcony of the winery now aged now between 20 and 50 years. Silvia says these vines would make pretty good Nebbiolo for Barolo, but that local demand for an Altare wine with of a more approachable sort (and affordable price) compels her to make it into Langhe Nebbiolo every vintage.  She adds a small parcel of Nebbiolo from vines she farms in Monforte d’Alba for a little extra oomph and gently macerates the fruit in one of her roto-fermenters for a few days and the finished wine then spends around five or six months aging in used French barriques before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.  This is not the sort of handling one typically expects for a wine in this sort of price point.  But it is, after all, an Altare wine, and an Altare wine has to have not only substance but also style!  This is not the stripped down, elemental, grapy Langhe Nebbiolo one sees a lot these days- there’s some power here.  And, of course, texture.  And a bit of nice wood. And some round tannins.  And great fruit.  Beautiful fruit!  So much fruit, in fact, that you won’t even notice the sense of Barolo-like gravitas lurking underneath.  So lovely, so plush, so delicious! Look for a mouthful of cherries, plums and red currants before the spice cabinet opens: rose, clove and a bit of bramble.  Drink now because you can or hold it for another five years or so and watch it come together even more. What a terrific red Thanksgiving option too!  Still a very good price…