Barolo Vigna Rionda Riserva

Obviously old, and wearing its age with dignity. Pickles drift into dried flowers and earth, old cherry preserves gone dark and leathery. Tar weeps through like Latakia smoke in an empty room. The tannins still grip - sandy, persistent - but the fruit has retreated, leaving concentration without exuberance. This is old-school Nebbiolo doing what old-school Nebbiolo does: trading youth's brightness for something more haunting. Twenty-four years on, it's become a study in texture and memory rather than fruit.