2017 Castello di Verduno Barbaresco Piedmont 750 ml

Castello di Verduno Barbaresco is dollar-for-dollar one of the greatest expressions of place in all of Piedmont. Long regarded as the “queen” to neighboring Barolo’s “king,” Castello Verduno’s interpretation of this legendary Barbaresco terroir is a beacon of Italian style and class.

When we decanted this bottle, the giddy eye contact flew around the room. An "mmhmm" on one side led to an "oh yeah" on the other, and things escalated pretty quickly from there. 

Antonio Galloni of Vinous, the Anglophone world's foremost expert on Italy, called the 2017 "radiant, open-knit and inviting" leading it to be "a very pretty wine." We don’t think he went far enough. 

This garnet Nebbiolo is a clear window into the effusive, site-expressive Nebbiolos of the Langhe—showcasing the region’s ability to produce wines that do more than quench thirst or develop beautifully in the cellar. This is a textbook example of a striking terroir that rarely reveals itself at retail, and often commands well over $50 when it does.   

In short, if you like red wines that aspire to being more than an accompaniment on the table, snap up as much of this wine as you can. It wildly over-delivers on the elegant character and substance of Barbaresco. Made from fruit grown in the Rabajà, Rabajà-bas, and Faset vineyards, all within the Barbaresco commune (one of four communes in the DOCG), it provides an incredible value and a vivid snapshot of the Piedmont's signature terroirs.

We’ve been lucky enough to find this beauty on a few menus over the years, ordering it whenever we can. We recently had a bottle over take-out tartufo pizza topped with sausage, fennel, and white truffle oil, and a plate of gnocchi with spare ribs and demi-glace. The wine grounded the truffle oil's more ostentatious tendencies and lifted the rich rib jus out of its darkest mood, keeping everything in balance and on time the way a maestro conducts an orchestra.

The experience reminded us that no one rises to the challenge as well, for as little, as Castello di Verduno. The wine in the bottle resonates with Italian flair at every turn. Wild strawberry and ripe raspberry flavors are drawn out on an intricate thread of rose petal, saddle leather, and an exotic blend of herb and spice. It's supremely long from the mid-palate to the finish, with filigreed tannins over a lifting acidity. But even beyond the nuance, it has this complete and ineffable sort of beauty, that we usually associate with wines twice the price.