Piemonte, Italy

750ml

Nebbiolo

91 F

Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa has been producing traditional wines in the Monferrato hills of southeast Piemonte since 1854. But it was Mario Pesce, admired by both Giacosa and Gaja, who made Scarpa’s reputation in the second half of the 20th century. Traditional sometimes means ‘rustic’, but that’s not the case here. A very present gusto della casa (house style) produces elegant wines with arrow-like acidity and well-aged tannins. In the 21st century, Scarpa continues to produce each year small quantities of more than a dozen wines from 10 different grape varieties and to release gradually wines from its ample library of bottles going back to the 1960s.

This is Barbaresco the way it used to be made — where structure, spices, and minerals are at least as important as fruit. The extra aging in cask and in bottle results in a wine that is released when it’s at least beginning to show the qualities that make a Barbaresco worth drinking: secondary aromas and flavors and the complexity that comes with age. In most vintages, the wine will continue to improve for years, if not decades, but if you drink it upon release, at least you won’t be committing infanticide.

“The 2018 Tettineive opens with enticing aromatic lifts of chiseled red cherry and raspberry, polished leather and menthol-cool underbrush. Elegantly structured, the tight, linear palate offers crushed raspberry, red cherry and star anise framed in firm fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. It's still youthfully austere and will be even better in a few more years.”