In my note on the 2019 vintage of Barbaresco “Montestefano” from La Ca’Növa, I erroneously reported that these vines are twenty years of age. In fact, they are now forty years of age and into their primes. Like all of the Rocca family’s bottlings of Barbaresco, their Montestefano is fermented with native yeasts, give a month maceration and raised in Austrian oak botti during its élevage. The 2022 Montestefano shows off the beautiful aromatic purity and bottomless depth of the best wines from this vintage, wafting from the glass in a blend of black cherries, dark berries, spit-roasted gamebird, anise, espresso, a complex base of dark soil tones, a dollop of fresh oregano and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with great depth of fruit, a superb foundation of soil, firm, chewy tannins, excellent balance, fine acids and a very, very long, nascently complex and promising finish. All that is needed is plenty of time in the cellar to soften up those 2022 tannins!

Balsamic aromas of camphor mingle with violet, wild berry and dark spice. The full-bodied palate has great structure, featuring mature Morello cherry, ground clove, tobacco, truffle and hazelnut alongside firm, crushed velvet tannins that provide enveloping support.

The 2022 Barbaresco Montestefano is laced with macerated cherry, cinnamon, new leather and mocha. It possesses terrific mid-palate density and overall fleshiness, both signatures of this site. There's good textural presence to wrap it all together. I especially admire how the Montestefano opens in the glass. It's the finest wine I tasted during my most recent visit, and the most likely candidate to improve in bottle. -- Antonio Galloni