The aromas of iodine and oyster shell really come through together with black cherries and dark brambleberries. Medium body with firm and racy tannins that run the length of the wine. March 2025 release. Drinkable but even better in three or four years. Try after 2028.

This is very powerful and structured, with aromas of black truffles, graphite and hints of dried thyme and cedar. Medium- to full-bodied and chewy yet polished. Hints of terra cotta and dark fruit. The finish goes on and on. March 2024 release. Best after 2028.

The 2021 Barbera d’Alba Superiore “Fides” bottling from Pio Cesare is an excellent example of this single vineyard cuvée from vines in Monforte d’Alba. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol in this vintage and offers up a deep and complex bouquet of black cherries, sweet dark berries, a touch of road tar, dark soil tones, hung game, fresh oregano, cigar smoke and a lovely framing of smoky oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and quite suave on the attack, with a fine core of black fruit, a good base of soil, firm, well-integrated tannins and lovely length and grip on the well balanced and complex finish. Though this carries the same alcohol level as the 2022 Barbara normale bottling, there is no hint of backend heat here. Just give it a bit of time in the cellar to soften up properly. 2029-2050.

The 2020 Barbaresco “Pio” from Pio Cesare is made entirely from the family’s own vineyard holdings in the village of Treiso. The wine is given twenty days of maceration time on the skins and raised in a combination of thirty-five percent barriques (one-third of these are new) and the other sixty-five percent of the cuvée in botti, also made from French oak. The 2020 Barbaresco “Pio” offers up a bright, transparent and already complex aromatic constellation of cherries, gamebird, anise, brown spices, a beautiful base of soil, a touch of red curry, gentle notes of cedar and a topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and ripely tannic, with a gorgeous core of red fruit, superb soil transparency and grip, excellent balance and a long, complex and vivid finish. This is going to be an outstanding bottle of Barbaresco once it is ready to drink! 2037-2085.

Pio Cesare’s 2020 Barolo “Pio” is a classic, blended Barolo, drawn upon a wide variety of different vineyard sources (all owned by the family) in townships such as Serralunga d’Alba, La Morra, Novello, Grinzane Cavour and Monforte d’Alba. As Bartolo Mascarello always insisted, no single vineyard Barolo can match the complexity of the old school blended bottlings. The wine is given thirty days of skin maceration and aged for fully three years in thirty percent barriques and seventy percent botti, both made of French oak. The 2020 version tips the scales at 14.5 percent alcohol and offers up a superb bouquet of red and black cherries, gamebird, a touch of camphor, beautiful spice tones, gentle notes of licorice, a complex base of soil tones that will go autumnal in due course, roses, peonies and a bit of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, ripe, buried tannins and fine focus on the long, complex and very promising finish. This is an excellent young Barolo! 2044-2100.