2012 Barbaresco DOCG Riserva Basarin, Piedmont, Italy

Nutty and a touch sweet-tobacco aroma of ripe, partly preserved red berries with some undergrowth, dried flowers and a touch of tar. Clear, ripe, fine-juicy fruit with nutty and undergrowth aromas, some foliage and dried-floral nuances again, delicately peppery-spicy in the background, fine-sandy, relatively polished tannins, a bit of salty minerality, good persistence, still young, has finesse, very good, again polished, fine-juicy finish with spicy and delicately nutty tones. Much more convincing than the obviously impaired first sample.

Best to drink: 2019-2026+. What our ratings mean