If you enjoy Nebbiolo but are searching for more minerals and elegance than tar and muscle, then look up a 1000 foot mountain ridge to Alpine wine from the Italian-French region of Valle d'Aosta. Here, it’s Nebbiolo as a harpsichord (instead of Barolo as cello)...known as Picotendro, unlike the more strapping wines you get in the Langhe or the soaring, electric wines you get in Alto Piemonte, in Aosta, it's all about elegant, flowery red fruit that's teeming with herbal and mineral nuance. Barmet is 100% Picotendro (the local biotype), cultivated by hand in gossamer-thin soils over schist and quartz rock, fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. Stony and fresh, it’s got the vigor of a wild mountain wine yet still with the depth and finesse that you'd expect from the variety. Immediate red berry fruit including currants and tart cherries define the nose, alongside mint and sage, dried rose and just a touch of Turkish delight. The variety's traditionally hefty tannins are filed down into something finer, softer, and more approachable. There's an undeniable savory uptick on the earthy, peppery palette to meet all its fine, spiced, sweet fruit that just might make you want to pull your hiking boots on and scale a frozen waterfall.