Barbaresco Pajé Vecchie Viti, Roagna 2018 75cl
Roagna's Barbaresco Pajé Vecchie Viti is one of the most revered wines in all of Piedmont — old-vine Nebbiolo from a legendary cru, made by a family who farm and vinify as if it were still the 1960s. The 2018 is a wine of extraordinary depth and one for serious collectors.
Luca Roagna and his father Alfredo work their Pajé holding in Barbaresco with old, low-yielding vines, extended macerations of a month or more, and long ageing in large old oak — a deliberately traditional, uncompromising approach. Vecchie Viti means old vines, and this cuvée draws on the oldest parcels, farmed with fierce attention to the soil. Production is tiny and demand is intense.
In the glass it is a luminous pale garnet, with a nose that unfurls slowly: dried rose, wild strawberry, tar, orange peel, liquorice, mint and a savoury note of leather and earth. The palate is at once ethereal and powerful — fine, chalky tannins, vivid acidity and a mineral, almost saline depth that carries an exceptionally long finish. It is a wine of nuance rather than force.
This will drink beautifully for two to three decades and needs years to show its best; if you open it young, give it a long, careful decant. At around £530 it is a collector's wine — rare, benchmark traditional Barbaresco to buy for the cellar and reward with patience.
How to Serve
Serve at 16-18°C in a large Burgundy glass. Decant several hours ahead when young; older bottles need gentler handling.
Where to Drink It
Locanda Locatelli in Marylebone for a landmark Italian dinner. Sartoria on Savile Row for refined Piedmontese cooking. The River Café in Hammersmith for a special occasion.
Food Pairings
Save it for white truffle over tajarin, or a simple roast of well-aged beef that lets the wine lead.
