Regular Price $68, Last 29 Bottles $44.99 with shipping included on 4 bottles or more

No.  That’s not a typo.  This is a nine-year-old bottle of Barolo from the famous Ravera MGA in Novello for $45!  As I like to say, better to be lucky than smart and, in this case, I was a little bit of both.  The importer was looking to move on to make room for the 2020 and happened to call me first.  Lucky me!  The smart part is knowing that this very small producer is on to something great, has great vines and also the attention of a lot of my Barolo-loving friends in Europe.  Smart was grabbing it all while the getting was good.  The Abrigo family aren’t well-known outside of Piedmont and northern Europe because their tiny cellar is not in the Barolo area per se, rather it’s up in the hills behind the Castello di Grinzane-Cavour in Diano d’Alba and, as such, they’re more famous for their Dolcetto.  They only purchased their parcel of Ravera back in 2013, so even though the vines are mature (plantings in 1960, 1980 and 2003), the 2015 Barolo Ravera we have here is only in its third vintage- hardly enough to earn any sort of far-flung reputation.  Their vines are in a great spot, though, along a high spread that runs across the vineyard bordering the Scavinos’ parcel to the west.  The cellar is very traditional: the 2015 underwent a maceration of 35 days before being aged for 18 months in large botti casks, better to not gild the lily with new wood or other cellar tricks.  Originally quite powerful- a wine that reflected the warm harvest and Ravera’s own penchant for producing robust wines- time has worked its magic and its youthful fruitiness has given way to more woodsy balsam and cinnamon notes with black licorice and dried floral notes now waxing ascendant.  Perfectly ready to drink, it’s a complete Barolo that shows its pedigree in its complex mélange of plummy, cherry fruit, complex aromatics and lovely, savory finish.  Only 3000 bottles were produced.  That’s bottles not cases…..and I have 30 of them at what I think is a pretty unbeatable price!