2018 Barolo Pichemej

The Marrone 2018 Barolo Pichemej shows a slightly austere character with dark fruit, blackcurrant, tilled earth, dried rose and candied orange peel. The wine offers medium to high density, in terms of structure, with firm tannins and a polished texture. The Pichemej delivers extra muscle and brawn.

Full bottle 1,298 g. Pichemej means 'beyond the best' in the local dialect. Their grandfather used to say that all Barolos are good but some are 'pichemej'. The perfume on the nose of this wine is extraordinary. Nothing like the closed nose of the 2017. This is heady, hedonistic, exhilarating. It's peonies in the early morning, dark roses after the rain, truffles and maraschino cherries. Fluid tannins, bearing only the slightest growling rasp of rough-ground spices and tea leaves, melt into the deep lustrousness of the fruit. Tucked into the heart of the wine is the umami musky earthiness of dried morels, a tongue-tip of tamari. Loamy forest earth, pine needles, blood orange and the finest of cinnamon and baharat spices. I've always found the Pichemej quite a challenge to taste in its youth – a tightly balled fist of a wine, tense and coiled. But the 2018...! It's a different creature altogether. It's breathtaking. Is this the vintage, or has something changed in the vineyard or the winemaking? I don't know, but the beauty of this wine is enough to make my legs crumple under me. (TC)