Roagna - Barbaresco Paje Vecchie Viti 2018 (750ml)
Wine Spectator: 97 Points
This pure red features cherry raspberry rose and licorice flavors underlined by mineral and tobacco elements. Taut and linear with the essence of fruit floral and mineral notes showing terrific harmony and length on an elegant frame. Best from 2026 through 2045. 221 cases made.
Vinous: 96 Points
The 2018 Barbaresco Pajè Vecchie Viti is graced with striking inner sweetness. The Vecchie Viti is powerful and deep but not in an obvious way. It has more inner sweetness and also more structure than the straight Pajè but also less overt depth as odd as that might sound. I especially admire its freshness. It will be interesting to see how this develops in bottle. - By Antonio Galloni on September 2023 This is a stellar set of wines from Luca Roagna. The 2018 Barbarescos and Barolos are especially fine. Roagna waited it out choosing to harvest as late as possible in order to ripen the tannins. As a result a number of the wines have distinctly exotic profiles. I tasted the entire range twice and found the wines consistently brilliant. These are wines that benefit considerably from cellaring something I have learned over the two decades-plus I have been buying and drinking them. As has been the case for some time Roagna has reduced the time in wood for the Barolos and Barbarescos preferring more neutral vessels for the final portion of aging. As always low-intervention viticulture and super-traditional methods with ambient fermentations and long time on the skins are cornerstones of the approach here.
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