Cantalupo, Ghemme DOCG, “Anno Primo”

Those of you who love the Nebbiolo grape know that it throws different looks at you. Some have the bright cherry fruit and lifted perfume of Burgundian Pinot Noir. Others are more savory, brooding even, with burlier tannins and darker fruits. Normally, I put the Nebbiolo-based wines of the ‘alto Piemonte’—the more northerly reaches of Italy’s Piedmont region—in that first, more lightweight, category.But today’s wine, from northern Piedmont’s Ghemme appellation, could easily be mistaken for a Barolo; not just any Barolo, but one from a village like Serralunga d’Alba, known for some of the most structured wines in the zone. Crafted from 100% Nebbiolo and aged for two years in large Slavonian oak casks (the same regimen as Barolo), this wine is just now starting to approach its full height, but it still has more growth ahead of it. It also happens to have crossed my path at exactly the right time—namely, a prolonged late Winter cold spell in Northern California that has me craving warming