Nino Costa, Roero Riserva (Piedmont, Italy) 2015

 The Arneis and Nebbiolo releases from this house are excellent with very consistent results across different vintages as well as the division between straight DOCG and Riserva renditions of the reds.  As a case in point, my score for the non-Riserva Roero from 2015 was exactly the same for this Riserva from that year, though the wines are totally different, with this showing much more overt wood character.  That’s easy to understand once one knows that it was aged in 100% new tonneau (generally 900 liters in volume, or the equivalent size of 4 Bordeaux barriques).  This seems a little less audacious when one learns that the toast level is extremely light, but still, the wine shows a lot of oak at this point.  However, the concentration and energy of the fruit is outstanding, and 10% of the clusters were air-dried a la Amarone, and this added ripe sweetness really helps counterbalance the wood influence.  A wine for the cellar, but a very solid bet.