Barbaresco Nervo, Cantina Rizzi 2019

The 2019 Rizzi Barbaresco Nervo has an intense and very appealing nose, with a persistent nose of fragrant, perfumed red fruits and a layer of spicy pepper. On the palate it is long and sinewy, with savory spice, black pepper and delicate wild strawberry fruit intertwining to the end with very nicely integrated tannins and a lingering finish. The grapes for this wine come from the Nervo cru which is a vineyard within the Bernardot cru with very steep slopes. This means the vineyard is well drained (good for wetter vintages) and also that it gets a greater angle to the sun. This cru site is giving this wine an extra notch up the quality ladder. Wait one to two years and drink 20 to 25. 2024-2047. 14.5%

The nose is positively savoury when compared to the other wines in the Rizzi range. Hints of balsamic, ripe cherries and some liquorice. The palate is more linear than its stablemates and yet there is still the house generosity of fruit, all just marshalled a little more. Nervo always tends to be a little shyer than others and that is the case here. That said, it will still drink well early on but thanks to a slightly bigger structure, should age well too. Drink 2024-2030+

The Cru of Nervo lies in the Dellapiana family’s home village of Treiso, with the vines here having been planted between 1967 and 2004. The wine is aged for one year in Slavonian oak botti and nine months in cement tanks prior to bottling. The 2019 Nervo is a beautifully expressive young wine, offering up a transparent bouquet of cherries, orange peel, gamebird, red curry, fresh oregano, bonfire and chalky soil tones. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, ripe and tangy, with a fine core of red fruit, excellent soil signature and grip, ripe, chewy tannins and impeccable balance on the long, complex and very promising finish. The 2019 Nervo has excellent lift and backend energy! This is going to be a beautiful bottle of Barbaresco. 2034-2090+

Treiso. Mid ruby. A captivating nose with an abundance of ripe raspberry fruit and savoury, minerally almost saline notes. Elegant fragrant sappy fruit that really builds up on the palate and with finely ground, long tannins. Long and still a little embryonic. 14.5%. Drink 2024 – 2036