($80): The Baudana family owns a small, 10-acre estate comprised of prized vineyards in Serralunga d’Alba, a subzone of the Barolo DOCG known for powerful wines.  Since 2009, G. D. Vajra, small but one of Barolo’s top producers, has been responsible for tending the vineyards and making the wines.  The 2010s, still sold under the Baudana label, are not to be missed.  The Barolo Cerretta, from a prized vineyard in Serralunga, has the power you’d expect from a wine from Serralunga, but with elegance and sophistication that is Vajra’s hallmark.  Baudana’s Cerretta, muscular with fine tannins, is impeccably balanced with amazing finesse and an engaging tarry bitterness in the finish.  Like great wine, it reveals itself slowly and becomes more impressive with time.  Barolo lovers should search for this wine and put it in the cellar for a decade or so.
95 Michael Apstein Mar 3, 2015