2021 Rosanna Sandri Barbaresco Damasco

Fewer than 100 cases made. If you open this wine today, it needs a three hour decant. Otherwise, lay it down for 5 years to allow its beauty to unfold. Red cherry, wild strawberry, rose petal, licorice, spice, and a thread of cedar — elegant and aromatic on the nose, then sinewy and precise on the palate, with Nebbiolo's hallmark vibrant acidity, finely grained tannins, and tobacco and dark chocolate on the close. The 2021 Rosanna Sandri "Damasco" is organically farmed Barbaresco from the Damasco vineyard in Treiso — three to four weeks of maceration, aged in large Slavonian oak botti, unfined, unfiltered, minimal sulfur. 2021 was Barbaresco's most Burgundian vintage in recent memory: a cool, precise growing season that produced wines of extraordinary aromatics, fine tannins, and exceptional aging potential — and at a domaine this small, working 4 total hectares across five varieties without tractors or chemicals, the fruit that made it into this bottle earned its place. Mario and Teresina Sandri planted these vines in 1950. Their grandsons Mauro and Roberto are still tending them by hand. There will not be more of this.