G. D. Vajra, Barolo DOCG (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 This was an obviously great wine tasted “blind,” and for a wine so young to prompt me to include “complete” among my first descriptors when encountering it in a very long lineup of wines attests to that.  The balance of ripeness to acidic freshness could not be better, and ultra-fine-grained tannins enable the gorgeously pure fruit flavors to linger very, very long in the finish.  I was surprised to read Antonio Galloni’s review of the wine as, “…a tightly wound, classically austere Barolo…” because it didn’t present itself at all that way on the day I tasted it.  (His review is very positive, and I think he’s a terrific Barolo taster, we just had very difference experiences.)  My raw note refers to it as having, “…silky and effortless texture…excellent depth and length…not a rough edge to be found, but full of flavor and poised for greatness once age adds tertiary notes.”   I stand by every word of that.