Morra Stefanino, Barbera d’Alba Superiore (Piedmont, Italy) 2019

 This sizeable producer makes very good sparkling, a superb Arneis “San Pietro,” excellent Roero Riserva, but beyond all of that, phenomenal Barbera.  This wine obviously doesn’t include “Roero” in its name, but it is grown entirely from the region and is so obviously outstanding that it seemed like the flagship offering to me.  This sees 12 months of aging in large-ish oak vessels, with only modestly woody character and fine, slow-and-even development as a result of the oxygen interchange permitted by the cooperage.  The fruit aspect of the wine is both pure and concentrated but not “heavy,” and is set off perfectly by savory characters recalling carpaccio and wild mushrooms.  Very carefully made Barbera can show an uncanny combination of classy, even aristocratic characteristics along with gutsy, straightforward power that is just shy of “rustic.”