Villa Guelpa 2020 Lessona

Running from Sunday 10/25 to Wednesday 10/28:

$44.99 on 1-5 bottles

$34.99 on 6-11 bottles ($10 off per bottle!)

$24.99 on 12+ bottles ($20 off per bottle!)

100% Nebbiolo from 25 year-old vines on sandy gravel, with some clay in the soil.  It took about 30 minutes in a decanter for the wine to fully bloom. Once it did, there was an abundance of dried cherries, cocoa powder, star anise and cardamom with a cooling acidity and fine tannins. When we think of Barolo we think of 2021 as a better vintage than 2020- but the opposite is true in Alto Piemonte to the north. Hail in 2021 damaged most of the vines while some of the best aromatic and complex wines with open-knit structure came from 2020. After 2 years in Slavonian oak and 4 years resting in bottle, we find this Lessona in a particularly good drinking window now with tertiary notes starting to develop with enough acidity and bright fruit to keep it lifted. What also separates this wine from fine Barolo is the suave elegance of the tannins - they are more subtle and refined, but with unmistakable Nebbiolo aromas.