Roagna has extremely strict parameters for any wine that is labeled Riserva. The vineyard must be located within specific historical land of Barolo with old vines. Roagna will produce the Riserva only from those old vines and use submerged cap maceration for 80 – 90 days. The wine is then aged in large oak barrels for many years, sometimes twice as long as the same wine from the same appellation that is not classified Riserva. This allows the maximum expression of the vineyard in the finished wine. The Riserva is released into the marketplace 10 – 15 years after the vintage in a very small quantity, often only a few hundred bottles.
The 2006 Barolo Pira Riserva Black Label is a tiny selection of about 2,400 bottles that spent five years in cask and then a decade in cement. Dense, exotic and beautifully layered, the Riserva captures that sense of timelessness that is often a signature of the Roagna wines - a place in time in which wines are both aged and young at the same time. It's that co-existence in two different worlds that defines many of the best wines here. Spice, orange zest, chocolate, spice, star anise and sweet pipe tobacco lend nuance to a wine that is just entering its first plateau of maturity.
- Antonio Galloni