The 2014 Barbaresco Pajè Vecchie Viti captures everything that makes Nebbiolo so seductive. Constantly changing in the glass, the 2014 offers up a striking range of spice, floral and dried fruit character with an expression of weightless power and transparency that only Nebbiolo offers. Readers should expect a delicate Barbaresco. Other wines in this range offer power and/or finesse, but the Pajè Vecchie Viti is all about elusive, ethereal beauty. I especially admire how the wine gains structure and depth with time in bottle.

The Roagna 2014 Barbaresco Pajè Vecchie Viti impresses thanks to its classic lines and lasting intensity. Like the other wines in this series, winemaking is rigorously traditional, with three weeks of submerged cap, inoculation with indigenous yeasts and five years of aging in both oak and cement. This wine represents a selection of fruit from the 1.8-hectare Pajè site. Pajè remains on the more elegant and nuanced side of the Barbaresco spectrum, and this wine reveals delicate floral tones, wild berry, cassis and crushed stone. The effect is stirring yet subtle. Production is 2,560 bottles.