I will almost always choose Barbaresco over Barolo: I know the latter gets all the blingy pub and is considered longer-aging, but I find the cheaper version grittier and firmer, just checking more boxes of what EYE like in a red wine. This one is no exception. Brown, clear amber throughout, literally the color of bitters, an immensely funky nose mired in earthy splendor and dank, rotting vegetal. The fruit slightly maderized on this one: soiled pear and burnt berry, but charming and complex here at 9.

In the mouth, more signs of either iffy storage or just plain past-peak, but supple and delicious, despite a certain *bruised* aspect to the fruit. The acid on entry overwhelms the fading fruit, and this theme carries through the middle and finish, as it never quite swells to glorious quantities. Fresh swirls puff out more poopy nuances, perfectly framing the age and balance of the wine in classic old-world fashion. The berry is black and concentrated, peppery typicity alive and well, and velvety tannins crease the finale. If you don’t look too hard, this could be considered a tired, one-dimensional wine, but there are delights a-plenty in this negociant wine–largely from its inexplicable balance.

2014 ARALDICA ‘Corsini’ Nebbiolo Barbaresco DOCG Piedmont Italy 13.5

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