1990 Barbaresco Crichet Paje

The 1990 Crichet Paje (from the oldest vines in Paje) makes an eloquent case for being the Monfortino of Barbaresco. This explosive wine bursts onto the palate with a complex array of licorice, tobacco, grilled herbs, tar, dried roses and smoke. The aromas and flavors are woven together in a fabric of extraordinary complexity that seems to reveal new shades of nuance with every taste. Still massive and powerful, this has another two decades ahead of it. Astute readers will note that the 1990 Crichet Paje was released as a Vino da Tavola instead of as a Barbaresco Riserva. At the time, regulations required producers to apply for the Riserva designation while the wines were still fermenting. At first, Alfredo Roagna did not think this particular lot was Riserva-quality so he didn’t declare the wine as a Riserva, and thus had no choice but to use the Vino da Tavola designation when he changed his mind years later based on the positive development of the wine in barrel. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030. I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted from Roagna, although I was only able to sample a small subset of the estate’s 1989s and 1990s. This small, family run estate has had several periods of ups and downs over the years, but when the wines are on, they are magnificent. These wines were made by Alfredo Roagna. Hopefully his son, Luca, can take things to the next level. Roagna is one of the staunchest of the traditional producers in Piedmont. The wines reach unprecedented extremes of contact on the skins as well as barrel aging prior to being bottled.