Roagna - Barbaresco Paje 2018 (750ml)
Wine Spectator: 95 Points
Fresh lively and linear in profile racy even this red exhibits strawberry cherry hibiscus iron and mown hay flavors with a vibrant structure fine harmony and a long fruit- and mineral-tinged finish. Best from 2026 through 2045. 543 cases made.
Vinous: 94 Points
The 2018 Barbaresco Pajè is a brooding inward wine. Mineral and savory notes dominate while fruit is in the background. The Pajè has come together beautifully since I first tasted it a few months ago. The aromatics in particular are so expressive. Like all the 2018s here the Pajè is a Barbaresco of understated complexity. It will be interesting to see if the nervy tannins soften a touch. - By Antonio Galloni on September 2023 This is a stellar set of wines from Luca Roagna. The 2018 Barbarescos and Barolos are especially fine. Roagna waited it out choosing to harvest as late as possible in order to ripen the tannins. As a result a number of the wines have distinctly exotic profiles. I tasted the entire range twice and found the wines consistently brilliant. These are wines that benefit considerably from cellaring something I have learned over the two decades-plus I have been buying and drinking them. As has been the case for some time Roagna has reduced the time in wood for the Barolos and Barbarescos preferring more neutral vessels for the final portion of aging. As always low-intervention viticulture and super-traditional methods with ambient fermentations and long time on the skins are cornerstones of the approach here.
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