2002 Barbaresco Crichët Pajè

The room is buzzing with energy as our Crichët Pajé is about to kick off. It’s one of the things I love most about our events: the enthusiasm, passion and deep knowledge guests bring to these lunches and dinners. The 60th floor at Manhatta is especially evocative on this morning. A thick blanket of fog weaves throughout the New York City skyline as if we had arranged for the most perfect Barbaresco meets New York views imaginable. We aren’t that good.

You never know what to expect from Luca Roagna. That is one of the reasons a visit can't possibly be boring, there are just too many new things to absorb with seemingly every tasting. Some things don't change, however, including a decidedly traditional approach to vineyard work and winemaking which emphasizes late harvests, the use of natural yeasts and extended barrel aging. Roagna fans will be sad to learn that the estate recently lost access to the fruit they had been working with from Vigna Rionda. A few Riservas from that site are still aging in the cellar, but 2006 will be the last vintage of Roagna Riondas. In exchange, Roagna has a new Barolo from the Le Coste vineyard in Monforte. That wine appears to still be a work in progress. Everything else I tasted was superb, including the 2002 Barbaresco Crichet Paje. Readers should be aware that because of the limited production of many of these wines (including the 2002 Crichet Paje) Roagna has decided to release the wines as a mixed case of 12 bottles. Some of the single wines will naturally be harder to source on their own.