The 2012 Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco is fabulous. Floral and lifted, the 2012 is one of the more refined editions of Perbacco I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully articulated throughout. Chalky notes support a sculpted, brilliant finish laced with hints of orange peel, white pepper and crushed rocks. Simply put, I can't recommend the 2012 Perbacco highly enough. This is as good as it gets for the money. Perbacco is predominantly a blend of vineyards; four in Barolo and two in Barbaresco, including new parcels in Montaribaldi and Pajore. Can the 2012 Barolos be meaningfully better than this?

The 2012 Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco is a solid effort, although the wine finishes on an unexpectedly hard note. The bouquet offers classic Nebbiolo aromas of wild berry, licorice and pressed rose. But the mouthfeel shows evident astringency that may not fully integrate. This edition of Perbacco represents a blend of fruit from Fossati, Le Coste, Liste, Bricco Boschis, Bussia, Rocchettevino and Boiolo.