Roagna Barolo la Pira Vecchie Viti 2012 750ml

The proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, 2012 Barolo Pira Vecchie Viti, has it all. At times sensual and weightless, while in other moments much more powerful, the 2012 constantly changes in the glass, in the way only top flight Nebbiolo can. The 2012 is dense and layered, with striking translucency that plays off the more overt elements. Structured and yet also light on its feet, the 2012 is superb today. The persistent, classically austere finish will thrill readers who enjoy traditionally made Barolos. I find the differences between Roagna’s two 2012 Barolos to be more stylistic rather than qualitative. The Barolo Pira will drink beautifully with minimal cellaring, while the Vecchie Viti is a wine for the cellar.

• Country: Italy
• Region: Piedmont
• Appellation: Barolo
• Size: 750ml
• Color: Red

Varietal

Nebbiolo

The Nebbiolo grape varietal is widely understood to be the fruit responsible for Italy’s finest aged wines. However, its popularity and reliability as a grape which gives out outstanding flavors and aromas has led it to be planted in many countries around the world, with much success. These purple grapes are distinguishable by the fact that they take on a milky dust as they begin to reach maturity, leading many to claim that this is the reason for their unusual name, which means ‘fog’ in Italian. Nebbiolo grapes produce wines which have a wide range of beautiful and fascinating flavors, the most common of which are rich, dark and complex, such as violet, truffle, tobacco and prunes. They are generally aged for many years to balance out their characteristics, as their natural tannin levels tend to be very high.