Roagna, Barbaresco, Paje Vecchie Viti 2013

From a vineyard site measuring only half a hectare in size, the 2013 Barbaresco Paj Vecchie Viti is marked by the strongest structural fiber when compared to Roagna's other old-vine wines from Barbaresco. This wine emerges from the glass with great aromatic precision, showing notes of cola, balsam and medicinal herb followed by plummy dark fruit. The effect is elegant and refined. The wine's tannic threshold measures right up there with Nebbiolo from Barolo, and this point is made at a tasting such as this by a producer who makes so many single-vineyard expressions from both appellations. In terms of its cellar aging potential, I'd put my money on Paj for the slowest evolution and longest aging future.