Barolo Margheria 2016

The Luigi Pira 2016 Barolo Margheria is a soulful wine that opens to a floral bouquet marked by blue flower, pressed violet and lilac. Those aromas are wonderfully elegant and nuanced, and the wine sports a graceful and polished personality. Nothing is out of place. At the core, you get wild berry and cassis. Dig a little deeper to discover rusted iron or ferrous earth. Fruit is sourced from a 1.5-hectare site with classic Serralunga d'Alba calcareous clay soils that lend more structure and power to the wine. Some 7,000 bottles were produced, and I highly suggest you seek these out.

The 2016 Barolo Margheria is powerful and incisive, as it so often is, but with terrific balance that should serve it well in aging. Iron, white pepper, crushed flowers, anise and bright red berry fruit all pulse through this striking, alluring Barolo from Giampaolo Pira. Readers will find a gorgeous, classically austere, young Serralunga Barolo with biting tannins and bright acidity. In other words, a wine that needs time to be at its best. The Pira Margheria can be a bit lean at times, but the 2016 has terrific balance.

Giampaolo Pira makes four Barolos from his estate in Serralunga. Serralunga is known for its dense and powerful wines, but Pira's usually have a gentler touch and this is no exception. His Margheria vines were planted in 1959 on limestone and clay soils. The nose is packed with juicy red fruits, and it's suave and upfront on the palate but stylish and poised, with impeccable balance. Not especially forceful, it's harmonious, satisfying and very long.