MASSOLINO Nebbiolo 2020

(Langhe, Piedmont, Italy) $37

If you love Italian food and wine, I hope this is the wine you drink sometime soon. (It’s easy to buy; see below). The minute I tasted it, I wished I had an Italian grandmother who was, right that moment, rolling out some tagliarini or stuffing some ravioli. (Sigh). Nebbiolo—considered by many to be the greatest Italian red grape variety—is the grape that makes Barolo, which is famous, long-lived, often hard-to-get, and usually quite expensive. So, finding a great Nebbiolo from the area around Barolo, but not in the appellation, is the key to scoring something delicious to drink that doesn’t require hocking the family jewels. This wine fits that bill. It’s from the Langhe, and Massolino is one of the top producers in all of Northern Italy. I’d drink anything they make. Nebbiolo is light in color, but don’t let that fool you. The variety usually arrives with a big bolt of tannin. But Massolino’s Nebbiolo is, thankfully, not aggressive. In fact, the sweep of cherry and dark chocolate flavors is what defines the wine and makes you want to come back to it again and again. Time to put the pasta water on to boil.

93 points KM

Available at Wine.com