Giovanni Almondo Roero DOCG 2020

Giovanni Almondo Roero DOCG 2020

Sandier soil than you find in the Langa, which gives generous, red-fruited Nebbiolo that is drinkable on release and excellent with say 5 years of cellaring. From three different sites, all their own; fermented with indigenous yeasts, about ten days of maceration, then aged for about 18 months in 25HL barrels (botti). This is three times the required minimum of barrel aging and helps to round the wine out and make it more complex.

Classic notes of red fruit (wild strawberry, red-currant), cedar, and tobacco leaf; suave attractive texture in the mouth. I would drink this with all kinds of foods, including grilled salmon. Pair it like a good Pinot Noir, in other words.

The best Nebbiolos from the Roero have the same relationship to the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco that Mercurey has to the the wines of the Côte d’Or, which is to say they don’t reach the same exalted heights as their more famous neighbors, but are a lot less expensive and can be drunk much earlier. Which is to say if you’re a wine drinker, rather than a wine collector, you will be enjoying them often.

In the last few years Almondo has moved back to fully traditional Nebbiolo winemaking, with longer macerations and aging in large barrels, and the combination of these cellar techniques with great farming makes great Nebbiolo.