Massolino, Barolo, Parafada 2020

A ripe brick red color, the 2020 Barolo Parafada is layered, ripe, and spicy, with notes of licorice, dried cherries, incense, cedar, potpourri, and baking spice. Pure and expansive, it’s weightless yet has penetrating richness in its pure notes of kirsch and also offers sweet tannins that weave seamlessly with fresh acidity, followed by an exceptional and long finish. A gorgeous wine from Massolino, it offers a wide drinking window over the coming 15-20 years.

No one consistently interprets Serralunga d'Alba fruit as well as Franco and Roberto Massolino. Their 2020 Barolo Parafada is an exceptional wine that doles out elegant tones of iron, rusty metal, blood orange and lavender. Parafada is a 1.2-hectare plot, and annual production is around 4,800 bottles. The high alcohol content (measured at 15%) presents a small distraction, but otherwise this wine is very tight, supple and almost glossy in texture.