The 2016 Barolo San Lorenzo di Verduno bristles with energy, as all these wines do. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 needs time to shed some of its youthful austerity. Sweet tobacco, spice, cedar, earthiness and dried cherry are some of the many notes that open up with some coaxing. Time in the glass bring out a whole range of tar and incense nuances that work so well with the wine’s personality. Over the years, I have been fortunate to taste the Alessandria Barolos with quite a bit of bottle age. I don’t want to scare readers off, but the 2016 is likely to be at its best in another decade or so, once the muscular tannins start to soften a bit. My impression is that the wait will be worth it.

Next to the classic Barolo, the Fratelli Alessandria 2016 Barolo San Lorenzo di Verduno shows a slightly darker hue and more mild concentration. The bouquet reveals less outright floral and fruit definition, and it offers more secondary and tertiary aromatic complexity instead, with spice, crushed stone, balsam herb and faint white truffle. The wine is powerful and shows a richer fiber, not by much but just enough to consider a more robust food pairing and more cellar age. A mere 5,000 bottles were released, and this is another home run from this impressive set of new releases from Fratelli Alessandria.

Verduno. Gorgeous, expressive, earthy-savoury cherry fruit with great focus. Concentrated, multi-layered and with fantastic acidity streamlining the fruit. Marzipan-tasting, deep tannins. Hedonistic. (WS)