2018 Bruno Rocca, Barbaresco

I always look forward to tasting the wines of Bruno Rocca and his family because they are always so expressive of vintage and territory. The 2018 Barbaresco gives us quite a few blanket descriptors that can be applied to the 2018 growing season. The wine is ethereal and delicate with cool-climate freshness, wild berry, fragolino di bosco and rose hip. There is a transparent and honest quality to the fruit that leaves plenty of room for those background tones of crushed limestone or white rock. To the palate, this Barbaresco is extremely fine and polished. About 14,000 bottles were released.

The 2018 Barbaresco is an attractive wine that shows the smaller-scaled structure of the year. Sweet floral and spice notes lead into a core of red berry fruit. There is no way of getting around the wine's light-bodied structure. I would not push my luck on aging; the 2018 is a wine to drink now and over the next handful of years.

Completely transparent ruby. Pure autumn leaves on the nose. Very juicy and just a light scent of oak, with fine tannins and just a little tar and dryness on the end. Very elegant – almost fly-away! (JR)