2018 La Ca Nova ‘Montestefano’ Barbaresco DOCG

WE96 Forest floor, cedar, new leather, and camphor aromas take shape in the glass on this compelling, earthy red. Showing a Barolo-like structure, the full-bodied, savory palate has an alluring wildness and energy to it, delivering dried cherry, blood orange, black olive, and licorice framed against a backbone of tightly knit tannins. Bright acidity keeps it balanced. It’s still youthfully austere and needs a few more years to fully develop. Drink 2026–2038. 
VIN94+ The 2017 Barbaresco Montestefano is a dark, brooding beauty. Super-ripe black cherry, plum, mocha, cloves, leather, and licorice add to a real sense of gravitas that runs through the 2017. Readers need to be patient with the Montestefano. I suspect it will always remain something of a brute, but it is endowed with tremendous presence and a ton of personality.