Boasso, Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d’Alba (Piedmont, Italy) 2018

 Although I’ve never visited this producer in the beautiful and highly esteemed village of Serralunga in my many trips to Barolo, my recent experience of the wines has been extremely favorable in terms of value as well as quality.  This bottling is sourced entirely from Serralunga fruit, famous for concentration and muscle within the Barolo firmament, and this 2018 bottling lives up to that billing even in a year that produced quite soft and inviting wines that aren’t typically noteworthy for “muscle.”  There’s no hint of over-extraction or excessive wood influence producing that result — just good work in the vineyards that probably included some crop thinning as well as protection of the clusters from direct sun.  Most 2018 releases from Barolo are ready to enjoy with food immediately upon release, that that’s not untrue of this one, though the food had better be pretty robust, and there’s strong cellaring potential here.