2023 Bricco Ernesto Vino Rosso

The 2023 Bricco Ernesto Vino Rosso is a certified organic and biodynamic Nebbiolo from the Roero, grown on sandy soils at 280 meters — one of the highest elevations in the appellation — with red cherry, orange peel, dried herbs, menthol, and fine brick-dust tannins that carry a certain coolness and freshness you simply don't find across the river in Barolo. Renato Vezza and his partner Elisa Antonioni farm 3 hectares on the hilltop that belonged to Renato's grandfather Ernesto — the name says it all — making fewer than 4,000 bottles total per year between their red and white, labeled simply Vino Rosso because Renato has always played by his own rules, bottling outside the DOC to retain total freedom over his land and his craft. Fun fact: the 2023 fermentation ran for 48 days — Renato never forces it, never rushes it — and this from a former sommelier who learned wine in London restaurants before returning home to Priocca to make what he calls, without irony, the greatest red wine in Italy. Pair with roast lamb, braised beef, or aged Parmigiano — or simply open it and pay close attention.