PRICE-DROP: Socré Roncaglie Barbaresco DOCG 2015

This is an absolutely stunning wine. Barolo gets the lion’s share of the hype but, as far as I’m concerned, Barbaresco is the more enjoyable wine. It’s slightly more delicate, more approachable, more seductive and altogether more charming. Bring out the Barolo when you want to impress your boss. Bring out the Barbaresco when you want to impress a wine lover. This is quite ripe on the nose, but by no means jammy! It offers a heady bouquet of tangy forest berries and cherries, with violets, rose petals, earth, mocha and licorice root. There’s tannin on the palate, of course, but not so much that you’ll regret having opened it young. This’ll go for a long, long time, but a spell in the decanter is enough to see it open up, take you out of your living room, and transport you to the mountain-encircled foggy hills of Piemonte.