Luca Roagna is making our favorite Barbarescos made today.
Out of their formidable lineup, I have a particular fondness for Albesani. So much so that I named the 2014 my Wine of the Year.
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The Albesani vineyard has a high limestone content, and it makes itself felt in a wine of incredible breeding, precision, and beautiful aromatics. It’s finessed, energetic, and possesses a tensile mineral core. This amount of purity and sheer elegance is rarely encountered.
Just to further underscore how special the site is, I should mention that the Albesani Cru is the source of Giacosa’s famed Santo Stefano. The parcel that Roagna rents is near Giacosa’s and is situated in the sweet spot of the cru.
Albesani reached almost mystifying heights in 2020. As past offers for Roagna's 2020 have made clear, we think that this is an extraordinary vintage for this benchmark producer. Roagna's signatures of textural appeal, nuance, and purity flourished in 2020. Their 2020s boast a classicism that we love.
From the 2020 Albesani, you can expect outrageous clarity and a fascinating delicacy and detail. There's a brightness and agile quality to the wine that I really like. However, this belies an intricate structure that promises it will age beautifully.
Before closing, I should mention that quantities for both the bottles and magnums are very limited. Anytime that we offer Albesani, we receive a strong response. I advise you to get your orders in early.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare
Crush Wine & Spirits
Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media: "The 2020 Barbaresco Albesani presents an elegant, restrained expression of Albesani. Dried cherry, crushed flowers, cedar, mint and pipe tobacco open with a bit of coaxing. This ethereal, haunting Barbaresco has to much to offer. It will be interesting to see if it gains weight with time in bottle. Today, it is very much on the delicate, aromatic side of things."