Palladino, Barolo (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 Just to clarify what we’ve got here, this wine sits between a straight Barolo DOCG wine and a single-cru Barolo bearing a vineyard name.  The designation, “Del Commune di Serralunga d’Alba” means that all the fruit was sourced from vineyards around the village of Serralunga, which has a well-earned reputation for producing rich, authoritatively flavored Barolos.  This wine certainly fits that description, though some patience is required, as it gradually unfurls its impressive charms over the course of about four hours after opening, progressively gaining aromatic complexity and depth of flavor.  Once fully unfurled, it features all the key virtues of the marvelous 2016 vintage, showing fully ripe fruit but also great purity and freshness, along with lots of little nuances provided by a long growing season.  Subtle floral aromas get it off to a great start, followed by savory and fruity notes that are very nicely proportioned to one another.  Oak is not much in evidence, thankfully, as there’s plenty of complexity already swirling around the gorgeous core of fruit.  The fact that the wine opens so gradually and beautifully suggests that it would best be held for at least another three years, but it is certainly not one that restaurateurs should overlook, as a decanter and a fine meal will let this shine much sooner.