FRANCO SERRA BAROLO DOCG 2021 (750ml) *

Nebbiolo grown in the hills of Barolo, in Italy's Piedmont, gives this 2021 from Franco Serra its backbone. Barolo is a wine built on structure and perfume, tannic in its youth and rewarding of patience, and this bottling reads as a classical expression of the appellation rather than a modern reinvention.

Expect ripe dark cherry and dried strawberry up front, edged with sweet licorice, cedar, and the tar note that Nebbiolo tends to develop. The palate is focused and well-built, framed by firm tannins and lifted by a spicy note on the finish. It carries broadly and lingers, with fruit that stays vivid throughout. A little time in the cellar will let the structure settle.