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It’s my job to keep my nose in the vineyard dirt in Italy to get firsthand info on what’s new and exciting before those wines can get discovered here and drive the price up and the availability down. Piero Benevelli is one such discovery—a producer that everyone in Italy is talking about but not many here have ever heard of. A Swiss friend of mine, one of the most fanatical Nebbiolo-heads I’ve ever met, first turned me on to Massimo Benevelli’s wines. They were, he said, the greatest expressions of Ravera di Monforte made, and I owed it to myself to take a look at this relatively unheard-of vineyard MGA myself to see just how unique it was. So I did.
 
Ravera di Monforte is, indeed, a unique spot. Located at the very southern part of the Barolo appellation, it sits perfectly situated to claim many of the attributes of the older, less fertile white marl soils of neighboring Serralunga d’Alba (Boscareto and Francia are to its immediate north) while, at the same time, endowing its Nebbiolo fruit with an innate iron-y, meaty Monforte-ness. With ‘bosco’ forest on one side, it’s a bit of a cooler, better ventilated site and the wines show this. They tend not to have the sheer oomph of neighboring Mosconi or the ‘obviousness’ of Bussia—it’s more, I guess, like if Ginestra were in Serralunga. (Sorry, that’s deep geek.) The vertiginously steep Benevelli parcel of Ravera was planted in 1960 so the vines are plenty old, and Massimo maintains it’s his responsibility to preserve the essence of this unique spot in the cellar and therefore aims for a traditional, if not hidebound approach: a near-monthlong maceration under a submerged cap, initial aging in older barriques, a secondary 15-month period in large-format neutral wood and bottling unfined and unfiltered.
 
The resulting wine, a lovely 2021, is textbook Ravera di Monforte. Rich with beefy tannins, a hint of bloody iron and a bouquet redolent of cedar, faded rose, road tar and licorice, it’s a big wine, but quite an elegant one too. I wouldn’t hesitate to open one now, but I’d definitely keep a few bottles for the long haul. Definitely a must-have!
 
Vinous Media, 95 points: The 2021 Barolo Ravera di Monforte is fabulous. Aromatic, deep and beguiling, the 2021 captures all the magic of Nebbiolo. Crushed rose petal, mint, spice, kirsch, white pepper and hard candy soar out of the glass. Deceptively medium in body, the 2021 is complex, layered and so expressive. Firm young Nebbiolo tannins inform the grippy finish. Sublime.