Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco Reyna

Michele Chiarlo’s Reyna is classic Barbaresco DOCG — 100% Nebbiolo grown in the rolling Langhe hills of Piedmont, the heartland of Italy’s most aristocratic reds. From a house that has helped define the region for decades, it captures everything that makes Nebbiolo so revered: perfume, finesse and a structure built to last.

Pour it and the first thing you notice is the aromatics — rose petal and ripe red cherry lifted by tea leaf, dried herbs and a savory hint of truffle, tar and tobacco. On the palate it’s medium to full-bodied, with a sweet core of cherry and licorice framed by the fine, almost aristocratic tannins that are Nebbiolo’s signature. Bright acidity keeps everything taut and lifted through a long, flavor-soaked finish.

Much of that polish comes from patience: the wine spends roughly 18 months in large casks of French and Slavonian oak before further aging in bottle, softening those firm tannins into something supple and complete. It’s a wine that drinks beautifully now — especially decanted — but has the backbone to reward years in the cellar.

This is a bottle for the table and the occasion: pour it alongside braised beef or short ribs, a truffled or mushroom risotto, game, or a board of aged hard cheeses, and let its savory complexity do the talking.