Cascina Roccalini Barbaresco 2021

Cascina Roccalini
Price:$75.00

Grape: Nebbiolo
Vintage: 2021
Type: Red

This artisanal red wine comes from the historic Roccalini cru, showcasing a pure expression of nebbiolo under organic viticulture protocols. Winemaker Paolo Veglio utilizes a traditional, low-intervention fermentation with native vineyard yeasts in concrete tanks. The fruit undergoes a prolonged skin maceration for sixty days using the old-school submerged cap method. Aged for twenty-four months in large neutral Slavonian oak casks, this unfiltered bottling establishes a commanding site-driven identity.

It pours a clear ruby hue, opening with a complex nose of wild cherry, rose petals, violets, and tar. The medium-bodied palate is deep and structured, pairing concentrated red currant fruit with a firm, assertive tannin backbone. Savory layers of iron, cedar, and dried orange peel unfold as the fluid mouthfeel develops. A bracing line of alpine acidity cuts through the structural weight, maintaining focus. It finishes long, dry, and persistent, leaving a mouthwatering mineral trail.

Cascina Roccalini is a small, esteemed, family-run winery located in the Barbaresco area of Piedmont, centered on the historically significant Roccalini cru. The estate was founded in 2004 by Paolo Veglio, who took the momentous decision to stop selling his family's highly prized Nebbiolo grapes—which for years had been sought after by producers like Bruno Giacosa—and begin bottling his own wine. Veglio's philosophy is deeply traditional and non-interventionalist, focusing on preserving the purest expression of the terroir; he farms his vineyards, which include the Nebbiolo vines for his flagship Barbaresco, without the use of herbicides or synthetic products. In the cellar, this traditional approach is maintained through spontaneous fermentation in concrete or steel, the use of the ancient *steccatura* (submerged cap) technique for a long, gentle maceration, and extended aging in large, neutral Slavonian oak barrels (*botti*), resulting in authentic, elegant, and mineral-driven Nebbiolo wines of great depth and longevity.