Pasquale Pelissero "Pasqualin" Langhe Nebbiolo DOC

The 2024 vintage of Pasquale Pelissero's "Pasqualin" Langhe Nebbiolo is a Neive family estate bottling named for the patriarch himself, made exactly how Pasquale liked it: traditional, cask-aged, unfussy Nebbiolo that doesn't chase trends. Ornella Pelissero now runs the estate, and this bottling remains the cellar's cornerstone, the wine they can't keep in stock once it's released. The fruit comes from 15-20 year old vines planted on a southwest-facing slope around 400 meters up, on the limestone-rich marl soils that define the Barbaresco zone, even though this wine is bottled under the broader Langhe Nebbiolo designation. After gentle destemming, the grapes ferment for ten days with temperature control and full malolactic conversion, then the wine spends a year resting in large French oak botti rather than small barrique, which keeps the oak influence in the background and lets the fruit and florals lead. Production is tiny by any national standard, just 8,000 bottles a year. In the glass the 2024 shows classic ruby red with garnet starting to creep in at the edges. The nose is pure Nebbiolo perfume: rose and violet up front, then red currant and raspberry, with black pepper, tobacco leaf, and a whisper of cocoa underneath. On the palate it's elegant rather than muscular, savory and mineral-driven, with real warmth and depth for a wine at this price point, and tannins that are present but polished smooth. This is Nebbiolo that drinks well young without pretending to be Barolo or Barbaresco, which is exactly the point. Pour it with braised short ribs, mushroom risotto, grilled sausages, or a wedge of aged Taleggio. It's equally at home next to a Sunday roast or a plate of agnolotti, and it has enough acidity to handle tomato-based dishes too. We've got the 2024 in now at Off Premise, and it's the kind of bottle worth buying by the half case if your table sees any kind of regular rotation.