2012 Massolino Barolo Parafada, Piedmont

In 1957, Parafada became the Massolino family’s first prime parcel of Serralunga and it is still home to their oldest vines (now almost 60 years old). Massolino own a 1.13 hectare parcel that rises steeply from 300 to 340 metres above sea level and faces due south, catching the full face of the sun. These factors, plus the denser, marly, lime-infused, more compact clay soils, typically result in the richest, most powerful wine of the three Serralunga crus. This is a vineyard that offers finer and finer wines with each vintage, better balanced and more delicious wines than ever before. There’s always a deeper, denser register here than the Margheria—terroir aside, Massolino’s old vines produce smaller berries with more concentrated fruit as a result.