Roagna, Langhe Rosso

In my opinion, Roagna isn’t just one of the best producers in Piedmont — they are one of the top producers in the world, full stop. Easily one of my top 10 wine experiences of my life, their wines are consistently brilliant. Over the last 15 years, prices have climbed steadily — and deservedly so. Their flagship, the 2019 Roagna Crichet Pajè, is now trading near $1,500.

Luckily for people like me, they produce a small amount of Langhe Rosso sourced from their top sites in Pira (Barolo) and Pajè (Barbaresco), from “young” vines around 25 years old. Nearly every producer in the region would bottle this fruit as DOCG Barolo or Barbaresco — but Roagna operates on a completely different level, holding themselves to a standard few can match. The result is this wine.

At around $60, it is one of the best values in the entire wine world — and a bottle that will age effortlessly. We received a small allocation, and I don’t expect it to last long.

Piedmont sits in northwestern Italy, cradled by the Alps and defined by rolling, fog-covered hills that feel almost suspended in time. This is one of the most revered wine regions on earth, home to Nebbiolo — a grape capable of producing wines with haunting aromatics, firm structure, and extraordinary longevity. The great appellations of Barolo and Barbaresco anchor the region, surrounded by historic villages like La Morra, Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte, and Castiglione Falletto, each expressing a slightly different voice of the land.

The soils here are ancient seabed — layers of calcareous marl, limestone, sand, and clay that give Nebbiolo its unmistakable combination of perfume and structure. In Barolo, you often see a deeper, more powerful expression; in Barbaresco, a slightly more lifted and elegant profile. But across the region, the signature remains: rose petals, red fruit, tar, spice, and that savory, earthy depth that makes these wines some of the most intellectually compelling in the world.

Roagna is one of the historic pillars of traditional Piedmont, a family estate dating back to the late 1800s, now led by Luca Roagna. What sets them apart is an almost obsessive commitment to terroir and time. Farming is organic and meticulous, with a focus on old vines, massale selection, and preserving the individuality of each parcel. In the cellar, they employ extraordinarily long macerations — often 60 to 100 days — followed by extended aging in large neutral oak casks, sometimes for years longer than their peers. Nothing is rushed, nothing is forced.

The Langhe Rosso is where you see just how uncompromising they are. This is fruit from their most prized vineyards — Pira in Barolo and Pajè in Barbaresco — that doesn’t make it into the final DOCG wines, often due to vine age or strict selection. Where most producers would capitalize on this fruit, Roagna declassifies it. The 2020 vintage is beautifully balanced — a year that offers both approachability and structure, with purity of fruit layered over the estate’s hallmark depth, tannin, and mineral tension. This is not an entry-level wine — it’s a glimpse into one of the greatest cellars in the world.

In the glass, the 2020 is immediately expressive yet quietly powerful. Aromas of rose petals, wild strawberry, red cherry, blood orange, dried herbs, and spice rise from the glass, layered with subtle notes of earth, tea leaf, and truffle. On the palate, it is both structured and refined — fine-grained tannins wrapped around vibrant red fruit, with a mineral backbone that carries through a long, lifted finish.

Serve this in a Burgundy stem and give it about an hour in a decanter — it will open beautifully. At the table, it calls for classic Piedmont: tajarin with butter and truffle, braised beef, veal chop, mushroom risotto, or aged cheeses and charcuterie. For the price, this is as close as it gets to drinking Barolo and Barbaresco from one of the world’s elite producers — without paying Barolo and Barbaresco prices.