If you’re trying to stay au courant with the underground Italian wine scene, San Fereolo’s must be on your watchlist and their extra-long-aged “Austri” bottling should be the first wine you explore in great detail. Because, the biodynamic mastermind behind these reds, Nicoletta Bocca, does not dare release it until 7+ years of evolution in barrel and bottle have passed. In other words, nobody except Nicoletta has been able to taste today’s creation until now, making this a rare tesoro that will completely deconstruct and redefine your perception of an entire region (Piedmont) and grape (Barbera). What’s more, this 2013 is the most impressive, complex, and complete “Austri” we’ve had yet. Our close San Fereolo contact agrees: “It’s the best I’ve tasted,” he exclaimed, and that’s coming from someone who’s visited her cellar three times and tasted the previous 12 vintages. Quite the endorsement!

But back to the seven, going-on-eight years of maturation: While this may seem absurd to many, I’m certain every passionate wine lover will embrace the brilliance and monumental undertaking behind it all. Nicoletta works to an almost supernatural degree, doing what 99.9% of the world’s winemakers don’t: complete biodynamic farming, three years of aging in large barrels, and at least four additional years of bottle aging before release. If you’re cavalier about the grape, we’ve got jarring news for you: This 2013 “Austri” isn’t just Barbera at its most brooding, intense, singular, and profound, but Piedmontese reds as a whole. This arrived stateside in severely limited quantities, so take whatever you can and savor each bottle over the next 10-15 years. 

Despite growing up in Milan and working in fashion, Nicoletta’s purchase of the estate in 1992 wasn’t to fulfill some fanciful dream. She felt duty-bound to the terroir here, the classic wines, the steadfast tradition. Still, the word “tradition” is subjective, and great wines often challenge the consensus about a given variety or region. For instance, many wine professionals feel that Barbera is not a grape that benefits appreciably from extended cellar aging. These same individuals might also argue that the soils in the Piedmontese village of Dogliani speak most clearly through one variety, alone: Dolcetto. “Austri” defies both of these common misconceptions and I think that makes the world of wine all the better for it. This is a Barbera—the “wrong” grape for the village of Dogliani—that has clearly ascended to greatness due in no small part to natural farming and extended aging. This doesn’t just disrupt the status quo, it shatters it.

The story of this bottling begins in the 1,300-foot Austri vineyard in the subzone of Valdiberti. This is an ancient, painstakingly farmed limestone vineyard that adheres strictly to the tenets of biodynamics. Because of the stellar, time-tested location and the chemical-free nature of farming, the fruit produced here possesses exceptional personality and energy. Seemingly, this Barbera has more of everything—more depth, more fruit, and more intensity. In the cellar, Nicoletta takes pains to preserve and never mask the wine’s character: fruit is fermented in large, neutral Slavonian oak; there is no temperature control; additives and commercial yeasts are avoided. However, starting in 2012, Nicoletta experimented with a submerged cap which essentially is a more gradual approach that allows more skin contact with the wine. The result is a red of increased elegance and added complexity from the flavors and components of the skins themselves. Note: Because this is a bottling of 95% Barbera and 5% Nebbiolo it does not qualify for the Dogliani appellation (which focuses exclusively on Dolcetto), so it is instead funneled into the broader “Langhe” DOC designation. 

San Fereolo’s 2013 “Austri” is a singular wine of notable expressiveness, power, and energy that requires 30 minutes to stretch before serving in Bordeaux stems. The dark-toned fruits announce themselves with a roar: sappy black cherry, cassis, roasted plums, and wild black raspberry before joining forces with leather, mountain herbs, espresso, cedar, tobacco, and a touch of barnyard. The brooding, medium-plus-bodied palate is framed by extremely fine tannins and a steady flow of acidity that enhances the fierce mineral core of crushed black stone and fired clay. It’s a powerful yet resoundingly poised Piedmontese red with multiple dimensions to offer so please savor it slowly—I suggest over two nights. Enjoy.