The 2016 Barbaresco Vigneto Starderi is outrageously beautiful. Dense, powerful and rich, the 2016 races out of the glass with huge fruit to match its classically mid-weight profile. Super-ripe red/purplish berry fruit, wild flowers, licorice and mint play off the huge tannins with real grace. Readers have to be patient, but the 2016 Starderi is a rock star wine. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Raspberry coulis dried red plums vanilla cedar and spice box make for a pronounced and beguiling nose. Full-bodied and very powerful on the palate yet the tannins are polished and the acidity focused and refreshing. Drink from 2023.

The 2016 Barbaresco Starderi Vürsù starts with a no-nonsense obscure color and ends with lots of dark fruit on the close. In between, it shows a spot of bitterness on the tongue, delivered with ripe fruit and some rather tight tannins. There are lots of tar notes here too, along with the sort of resin and camphor ash you might not have been expecting from such a youthful Barbaresco. But this one has a heavy center of gravity and is not to be trifled with. It's a big and bold wine that demands a rare cut of beef. Some 14,500 bottles were made.

A muscular style, whose dense tannins uphold flavors of cherry, currant, earth and wild thyme. Compact and chunky, with a light chewy quality to the finish. Best from 2023 through 2042. 1,291 cases made, 400 cases imported.

Grilled onion, minestrone and broth aromas lead the nose. The palate shows soy sauce and crushed dill, but it lacks fruit richness. Drying, aggressive tannins leave an astringent finish.