Barbaresco Albesani Riserva Viti Vecchie

Delicate, perfumed nose that makes you lean in close. Blackberries and roses over earth, tea leaves and tobacco weaving through. Complex and beautiful, but fuck, this is embryonic. The acidity is savage, cutting through everything with chalky minerality, while those tannins are drier than academic prose. The whole thing's locked up tighter than a vault. There's this curious fennel-celery greenness that I can't decide if I love or just find intriguing. You can taste the old vines doing their thing - all that depth and complexity - but right now it's like watching a brilliant film through frosted glass. Fascinating to drink from vines this ancient, just wish they were more interested in conversation. This needs a decade to become what it's meant to be. Classic case of greatness in waiting.