2011 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina

(14.5% alcohol; from 35-year-old vines in east- and west-facing parcels around Gavarini; aged for 18 months in half-new and half once-used French barriques, then blended in stainless steel and bottled a month later): Deep red-ruby. Very ripe, spicy aromas of currant and black plum lifted by a floral topnote. Rich, chewy and deep in the style of the vintage, with mellow, ripe berry and nicely integrated oak tones and a serious structure for barbera. At once fine-grained and mouthfilling. "Two thousand eleven was a vintage of barbera more than nebbiolo," Grasso told me. "Barbera wants warmer temperatures but nebbiolo is much like pinot."