Palladino, Barolo DOCG (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 I’ve tasted extremely impressive wines from Palladino in past vintages, but never one that attained this level of excellence.  Additionally, the Ornato cru has been the source for many superb vintages made by the famous house of Pio Cesare, but I’m having trouble recalling one that was as impressive in overall terms as this wine.  It is broad and weighty in overall profile for the vintage, yet shows remarkable purity of fruit for a big, powerful wine.  Moreover, its weight and size weren’t achieved at the cost of any over-extraction, as it shows no hard edges from an overly long maceration or an excessively hot fermentation.  The oak is very well measured, lending spice notes but never intruding on the core of fruit.  As for that fruit, it really displays the wonderful character made possible by the vintage, showing primary sweetness all the way through the finish, but never any candied or stewed character indicating an overly ambitious late picking date.  Quite simply, a marvelous achievement from this house.