2010 Roagna pre-shipment offer

Let the grasses grow under your feet

Centuries of study by Benedictine monks first identified the crus of Barbaresco and Barolo, knowledge that was forgotten in the turmoil of the 18th and 19th centuries and restored only recently. The Roagna family goes back almost that far and for three generations have concentrated their efforts on reclaiming the glory of their best vineyards. Those monks - as in Burgundy - were super-keen students of the natural world and how different soils and aspects would affect finished wines.

Luca Roagna, currently the young chef de cave at the family domaine, continues that work. None of their vineyards has ever had herbicides used on them (including the one they rent from an old contadino) and Luca runs them along strict organic lines, though doesn't believe in certification. The life in the vineyard soils makes these wines sing. Luca jokes that they've more varieties of grass growing between their vines than there are in the entire New World. But he's deadly serious that all this makes a big difference to the wines. The very first time we tasted Roagna was many years ago and they impressed us then. Essentially they are leveraging 800 years of terroir experience and the multi-million year old seabed that forms the hills where their vineyards grow.

2010 at Roagna is the most recent in a series of stellar vintage releases. Each vineyard plot expresses itself perfectly and the crus work as a magnifying glass, showing the finest detail of soil and vine in exquisite detail. /CW

Offered subject to remaining unsold; available spring 2016