2015 Barbaresco Serraboella

Limestone soils, 60-year-old vines. 26 months in big Slavonian oak and some tonneaux. Light to mid ruby. More spicy than the Vie Erte, smells more youthful in its peppery red fruit. And a more stony/mineral coolness. Lovely dry finesse and freshness on the palate. Still embryonic but all in harmony. Dry, chalky, really like sucking stones on the finish. (JH)

Just bottled a few weeks before this tasting, the 2015 Barbaresco Serraboella is an infant. Deep, powerful and resonant in the glass, the 2015 should be fabulous once it recovers from its recent bottling. Dark cherry, plum, menthol, licorice and spice notes abound, but the tannins remain imposing. Readers will have to be patient, but that should not be an issue here. This is far from an easygoing 2015.

A big, rich wine, 2015 Barbaresco Serraboella is shaping up to be a real beauty. A host of dark cherry, plum, mocha, dark spice and leather overtones race from the glass in a sumptuous, ample Barbaresco that holds quite a bit of promise. Today, the French oak is a bit dominant, but I also tasted an approximate blend of the final wine, and not the final wine itself. It will be interesting to see where the 2015 ends up once it is in bottle, but there is plenty to look forward to.