Large and in charge, Matteo Ascheri is one of those people you meet in Barolo who are just Piemontese to their very core and he’s revered enough locally to be serve as the president of the Barolo-Barbaresco Consorzio. They’ve been in the region for generations upon generations and have that uniquely Piemontese character of wanting to do things ‘their’ way, no matter what. And so it is with Matteo. After two minutes with him you’ll know exactly what he thinks. The wines of his peers are becoming too homogenous, they all taste the same and are losing their soul. People are planting with too many of the same Nebbiolo clones, using too much of the same kinds of wood and, god forbid, they’re hiring too many ‘consulting winemakers!’ ‘I want to make my own mistakes,’ he says but, after speaking with him for a while, you guess he doesn’t make many. With vines in Serralunga d’Alba, Verduno and La Morra, he’s got plenty of excellent raw material with which to work with and, with fierce independence and absolute commitment, he turns it into a series of excellent, 100% Ascheri-made wines and, because he’s also not much interested in appealing to the press or world markets, they’re still pretty affordable too! In the tumultuous 2018 harvest, he declined to make any of his three single vineyard wines and, instead, put all of his effort into making one excellent Barolo Classico. You can tell there’s a lot of Serralunga d’Alba in its DNA at first sniff as those floral and ferrous notes are right there at the top, then warmer notes of camphor, aniseed and cherry confit come to the fore. Three sites in La Morra provide the nicely concentrated fruit and spice while that little bit of Verduno in there provides the lift and a sense of effortless elegance.  We loved it for its immediate approachability and surprising early complexity.  Not a ‘big’ wine, per se, it’s not a ‘small’ one either. Tasting it, I was reminded of several more high profile wines that cost more than double this one. Hey, why spend more if you don’t have to! Drink now or hold for a decade.       

Wine Spectator: Hints of tomato leaf aromas grace this otherwise fruity red. Rich, offering cherry and strawberry flavors accented by mint and iron. Reveals refined tannins, which provide structure and leave a chalky finish. Best from 2025 through 2043. 3,800 cases made. 93 points   

 Wine Advocate: This pretty bottle boasts a new label design with simple graphics and a slightly retro personality. Due to the difficult growing season, no single-vineyard wines were made in 2018. Instead, fruit was bended here. The Ascheri 2018 Barolo is a classic interpretation of Nebbiolo (representing an assembly of fruit from La Morra, Verduno and Serralunga d'Alba) with an immediately compelling bouquet that reveals a good amount of complexity and some unexpected notes of dried flower and orange peel at the back of wild cherry and redcurrant. This vintage opens quickly (uncork it a few hours before without decanting) and has the upfront consistency and balance to enjoy in the medium term. 92 points