Daniele Pelassa, Roero DOCG Riserva (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 Daniele Pelassa made a sleek, stylish 2016 Roero Riserva, taking full advantage of a growing season the likes of which we may not see again soon.  Although I stand by my initial descriptors, this packs some punch to underlie its stylish profile, with expressive fruit showing red cherry and berry notes with a fresh — not dried — character.  There is a lot of tannin in the finish, but so fine in grain that it doesn’t foreclose the fruit at all, nor make the wine seem anything less than silky until the very end of the finish, when a touch of astringent grip sets in.  This is hardly a flaw, and Nebbiolo without some grip would be weird, like a hairless cat.  If anything is weird about this, it is that the wine can serve so well as a sipping wine, thanks to those fine-as-dust tannins.  Panning out for a last observation, with prices for Langhe Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo d’Alba now routinely hitting or exceeding the $25 mark, Roero and Roero Riserva are starting to look like bargains, because they are.  Their only disadvantage is that their competitors in this price range have better name recognition because the producers also make Barolo and Barbaresco.  However, the smart money should be turning toward Roero for wines around or under $35.