2022 Inama Carmenere Carminium (Colli Berici)

Full bottle 1,402 g. 100% Carmenere from their own vineyards. Single vineyard on red clay and limestone. 100% destemmed. Fermented in stainless steel, aged in barriques (35% new, 65% second-passage) and a bit of big cask.
Brimming with tremolo energy, ripe cherries, orange peel and an aromatic smudge of spicy-herby fragrance that reminds me of vermouth. The tannins feel as if they are sage stems wrapped in satin, tenaciously long but ethereally elegant. Both plush and translucent. Fine, fine white-pepper and baharat spiciness on the finish. Arching structure gives the wine a sense of being lifted and aerial but also connected at both ends to place and ground. I did not know that Carmenère could be so beautiful, so refined. 17 points

The 2022 Colli Berici Carminium is airy and fresh, with a cascade of violet and rose tones complementing citrus-laced blackberries. Wildly fresh and lifted, it sweeps across the palate with ripe wildberry fruits offset by a peppery tinge and tactile mineral tones toward the close. It leaves the cheeks puckered with tension as hints of sour citrus add further clench and keep the senses salivating. I love the balance here and, despite the 2022`s youthful state, find it a total pleasure to taste today. 92 points