2016 Giuseppe Nada Cru Casot Barbaresco 750 ml

Sometimes silence at the Wine Access tasting table is a good thing. The garnet-tinged 2016 Giuseppe Nada Casot Barbaresco reduced us to a momentary (and rare) state of speechlessness, before Master Sommelier Sur Lucero cleared his throat and spoke up. “At $39, this is the best value Nebbiolo I’ve come across this year.”

The warm, dried cherry core, fine rose petal and leather aromatics, and sheer velvety volume had cast a spell on us. Our tallied scores made this one of Wine Access’s highest-rated Barbarescos ever for under $40. 

At just $31 a bottle on cases—the best price in the nation—it’s an utter anomaly. “I’ll be purchasing at least a couple cases to drink over the next 5-10 years,” Sur told us. “Prices will not remain like this in Piedmont when quality and land prices are both on the rise.”

Wine Enthusiast reached the same conclusion, awarding a whopping 96-point score as well as Editors’ Choice honors, calling the palate “delicious” and the tannins “velvety, enveloping.”

Only once in a blue moon are you going to find critical praise of that caliber for a traditional, artisanally-made Barbaresco at this price. Make out like a bandit today while this incredible offer stands.

Sur discovered Nada while on a trip through Piedmont with Shannon Staglin, president of the acclaimed Staglin Family Vineyard. Reservations that evening were at Enoclub, the ritzy underground restaurant as famous for its wine list as its elegant vitello tonnato.

When the celebrated sommelier approached their table, situated beneath an arching brick ceiling, Sur rattled off a dozen of the best traditional producers of Barbaresco. “If you have any high-caliber estates that I haven’t named, pour us that.”

The somm disappeared into the cellar and returned with a bottle of Giussepe Nada’s Cru Casot. Pouring deep ruby, Sur and Shannon were hypnotized by the fragrant notes of rose petal, licorice, tobacco, and dried herbs lifting from the glass. Extremely fine-grained and cedar-tinged tannins were balanced by touches of clove, orange peel essence, and savory spices. “The wine was absolutely singing,” Sur told us.

It turned out the sommelier knew the Guiseppe Nada family personally, and he extolled their practice of hand-tending every vine on their 22 acres. This Barbaresco is made from just eight organically farmed acres in the Casot cru, located in the village of Treiso. Steep, perfectly exposed, with vines dating back to 1960, Casot is a source for wines of spellbinding beauty. Everything in the winery is done by hand: Extended maceration and fermentation lend supple strength to the tannins, while aging in large barrels slowly harmonizes the wine’s structure.

With a little coaxing—decant and enjoy a glass over the course of an hour—it drinks beautifully today, and will slowly unfurl in glorious complexity over the next decade.