Tenuta Cucco, Barolo DOCG (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 This isn’t a designated “cru” wine, but rather one named after the village, so Barolo “Del Comune di Serralunga d’Alba.”  But don’t let that give you the misimpression that this is a second-rate wine…it is a beauty that shows the depth of excellence in the 2016 vintage.  Its balance is immaculate, with ripe fruit and alluring savory notes riding in tandem in perfect harmony.  The balance of wood and tannin to fruit is also just right, suggesting that a series of good decisions were made from the time the fruit was picked to when the maceration was conducted to when the juice was racked into oak.  But then… that’s a hallmark of 2016 in Barolo:  Everything seems to have been easy, and good decisions were the rule rather than the exception, as was the case in 2015 in warmer sites.  By the way, pricing for this wine is wildly inconsistent, so don’t jump at the first offering you see… unless it is closer to $50 than $80.