Ceretto's 2013 Barbaresco Asili is marked by a high level of volatile acidity that totally masks the fruit. This is a perplexing wine that I have a hard time reconciling with the Ceretto style.

The Ceretto 2013 Barbaresco Asili shows very nicely. The wine presents a slightly herbal personality with dried sage and rosemary that add to the balsamic intensity of the bouquet. Those characteristics contribute to a sense of vertical buoyancy and serve to underline the integrity of the fruit and oak-driven spice that are at the base of this wine. The results show impressive depth and lingering Nebbiolo flavors.

Top of the hill. Previously labelled Bricco Asili. Pale-medium garnet. Black tea, tar and cinnamon lift to dense, scented red-cherry fruit. Really aromatic and attractive. Sweet cherry palate fruit entry, with lots of life, youth and freshness. Beautifully fine, firm tannins that will carry this effortlessly through a couple of decades. It has an appeal and sweetness that could be drunk now, but this will be better in five years and has a long life ahead. (TJ)