You can debate practically anything in wine. Except this: Luca Roagna produces the best wine for the money in Piedmont.

This week we'll be receiving his 2020 release, a comforting, open-knit vintage. Most of the key Barbaresco and Barolo bottlings are available for pre-order below (except, sadly, no Crichët Pajé in this round).

It also includes – yes, from the same vintage – his Langhe Rosso, a bottle that feels almost deceptively named. Cut from the exact same cloth as his top wines, this is 100% Nebbiolo from two vineyards that source the family's quintessential cru bottlings (Pajè in Barbaresco, Pira in Barolo).

Fermented and aged exactly the same as those top wines, he uses the traditional capo submerso (i.e. a floating cap) during fermentation followed by a full 5 years of élevage. 2019 saw the first of small tweaks to the aging, still half a decade but now incorporating some cement alongside older barrels.

It's a long, patient process that puts an unassuming Langhe label shoulder-to-shoulder with Piedmont's most dizzying wines. Powerful on the palate while still being wildly aromatic, gorgeously spiced and red-fruited:

2020 Roagna Langhe Rosso, Piedmont, Italy $60

2020 BARBARESCO:
2020 Roagna Gallina, Barbaresco DOCG, $210
2020 Roagna Albesani, Barbaresco DOCG, $215
2020 Roagna Pajè, Barbaresco DOCG, $215
2020 Roagna Barbaresco Pajè Vecchie Viti, Piedmont, $425

2020 BAROLO:
2020 Roagna Rocche di Castiglione Barolo DOCG, $215
2020 Roagna La Pira, Barolo DOCG, $215
2020 Roagna La Pira Vecchie Viti, Barolo DOCG, $425
2020 Roagna Montefico Vecchie Viti, Barbaresco DOCG, $400
2020 Roagna Asili Vecchie Viti, Barbaresco DOCG, $425

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