Luciano Sandrone, Barolo (Piedmont, Italy) 2010

Sandrone is widely regarded as one of the most skillful vintners in Barolo, and the 2010 vintage has been hailed as possibly the most complete in a decade, but this wine remains jaw-droppingly impressive even when allowing for all of that.  Highly expressive in aromatic terms, it shows scents of ripe fruit and exotic spices as well as subtle savory accents that lead seamlessly into comparable flavors.  Very deep and persistent in flavor without any extraneous weight or ripeness, this is a classic in the making, with all of its many virtues derived predominantly from perfectly grown and ripened fruit–rather than cellar tricks.  The restrained wood and fine-grained tannins will need several years to resolve before this wine hits its apogee, but it already shows its excellence quite manifestly, so there’s nothing dicey about purchasing this even at its usual high price.