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.

A racy burst of acidity creates an initial linear feel on the palate of this intriguing white, which quickly broadens to reveal layer upon layer of finely meshed flavors, from rich notes of toasted almond and crystallized honey to elements of tangerine peel and baked pear fruit, dried mint and beeswax. The lively acidity works in tandem with an underlying streak of salinity that drives through the lasting, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2030.

The 2016 Cristal is a blend of 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay with 7 grams per liter of dosage. No malo-lactic was performed here, and 31% of the base wines were aged in French oak. The nose begins with bright red berry notes of fresh raspberries and strawberries before opening out to a complex undercurrent of saffron, white chocolate, talc, baker’s yeast, and emerging wafts of citron blossom and pear tart. The palate is very dry and spicy, not needing even a touch more sweetness thanks to the abundance of ripe berry and citrus flavors, delivering beautifully knit acidity and typically tiny, persistent bubbles. It finishes with notes of effervescent chalkiness and saffron flowers, leaving you reaching for another sip.

The 2016 Vintage Brut is a blend of 68% Pinot Noir and 32% Chardonnay with 7 grams per liter of dosage. Only 5% of the blend underwent malo-lactic, and 33% of the base wines were aged in French oak. Showy notes of Red Delicious apples, ripe pears, honeycomb, and cashews prance out of the glass, giving way to underlying orange blossom and fresh ginger scents. To its credit, the palate is on the dry side, with its sweetness coming from ripe fruit as opposed to added dosage, offset by supportive yet skillfully balanced acidity, showcasing the ripe, nuanced, seductive fruit, finishing long and creamy. More gregarious than its 2016 Cristal counterpart, this is a flamboyant yet age-worthy Vintage Brut. Love it.