Cigliuti Vie Erte, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2018

The fruit comes from 40-year-old vines located in the Bricco di Nieve vineyard of Barbaresco.  Elegant, yet quietly powerful in its expression, red cherry, roses, rhubarb, smoke, and alpine strawberries.  In the glass, an underlying depth of leather, chocolate truffle, vanilla, and the required acid and tannins that make Nebbiolo the world-class are all present.  Cigliuti is a small producer to keep an eye on.

"The 2018 Barbaresco Bricco di Neive Vie Erte is bright and effusive. Sandy soils yield a Barbaresco with lovely aromatic presence and mid-weight structure. Now that the vines are 20 years old the tannins have begun to soften a bit. Rose petal, mint, cedar, tobacco and leather lend layers of dimension to this mid-weight, nervy Barbaresco. The average structure of the year is evident though." Vinous 91