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Paradise!

 Two vintages of Fabrizio Battaglino's Nebbiolo d'Alba 'Para'di' (OK, so that doesn't translate as 'Paradise' but allow me some licence), both very good years - 2019 and (on paper, even better) 2020. Young but this is his first port of call for Nebbiolo so it's meant to be drunk young (albeit not necessarily this young). Are they drinking well now and what, if anything, distinguishes them from each other?

In time honoured fashion, 2020 first, just because it's younger. It's got quite big fruit for a Nebbiolo grown in the Roero hills but, then, you only have to try Giacosa's Valmaggiore from the hill next door to see that's not uncommon or a bad thing. There's power here. It seems to deserve a higher appellation status - think of this as the Piedmontese equivalent of a Côtes du Rhône; this is far more interesting than all but a handful of wines from that area. 2020 was a superb vintage though and this isn't bucking the trend. It's nicely balanced. Yes, there's tannin here but the big fruit means it's not at all impenetrable. A bit of Parmesan or something else to eat with it will help draw out the fruit more. Or it can wait another year or two. In any case, this is going to keep until the end of the decade at least. Fat chance.

2019 was quite a big vintage too but this wine has more delicacy than its younger sibling That means the oak shows though a bit more and the tannins are a little more pronounced. Given a few minutes to open up, it's very giving. Fruit-wise, there's really not a lot between them (I don't go in for all those tar and roses tasting notes). Very nice though.

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