2014 Barbaresco, Crichët Pajé, Roagna, Piedmont, Italy

I tasted bottle 828 of only 1,640 made.

The 2014 Barbaresco Crichët Pajé is a slender and extremely delicate wine with fragile floral aromas of roses, or fresh violets picked off the forest floor—light mineral shadings, aniseed and iron ore frame those bright aromas. The tannins are a little more structured here, yet they maintain that magical lightness and ethereal quality across the Roagna portfolio. You will remember that 2014 saw lots of rain and cooler average temperatures, but many of Piedmont's best wines turned out especially graceful due to these conditions. This wine has an extended eight-year ageing period in oak cask and cement.

Drink 2024 - 2055

The 2014 Barbaresco Crichët Pajé is a fine example of the style Luca Roagna favours today. Elegant and refined, with tons of ethereal beauty, the 2014 conveys nuance and complexity without excess weight. Hints of kirsch, red plum, mint and spice lead into the refined, sublime finish. Superb.

The room is buzzing with energy as our Crichët Pajé is about to kick off. One of the things I love most about our events is the enthusiasm, passion and deep knowledge guests bring to these lunches and dinners. The 60th floor at Manhatta is especially evocative on this morning. A thick blanket of fog weaves throughout the New York City skyline as if we had arranged for the most perfect Barbaresco meets New York views imaginable. We aren’t that good.

Drink 2024 - 2044