This is excellent. Superfruity on the nose with loads of raspberry and strawberry character. New wood undertones. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and a long finish. Fresh and powerful. Almost up to the 2000 in quality. Best after 2009. 450 cases made. –JS

The 2003 Barbaresco Masseria from a vineyard in the Bricco di Neive sub-section of Neive is one of the vintage’s successes. A fairly dark ruby it opens with elegant notes of sweet toasted oak cherries in liqueur and spices. It is rich and expansive on the palate where it offers plenty of fruit with notable concentration purity and depth in a sleek finessed style. The tannins are quite present today but a few years of cellaring should bring the wine into balance. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018.