2016 Ferrando Carema Etichetta Bianca

Ferrando’s white-label Carema is arguably the most gorgeously elegant expression of Nebbiolo in existence, and this 2016 is a textbook version. Full of driving, kinetic energy, it presents a lifted and linear palate at this youthful stage which should broaden with bottle age, as well as an intoxicating blast of high-toned spices and mountain herbs. Never an overwhelmingly powerful wine, “Etichetta Bianca” derives its sense of structure more from its acid-fruit tension than its tannins, and that is particularly the case with this 2016. Fermented in stainless steel without temperature control and using only indigenous yeasts, it spent three full years in a blend of large Stockinger botti and smaller well-used French barriques.