There's something very 'Piedmont' about this - the savour of the tar and pepper on the nose, mingling with a little Barbera-like sour plum perhaps. But there's a bit more of a feeling of generosity and richness here, as the fruit heads towards black cherry and prune, lifted up with a little with balsamic sweetness and roasting nuts. It's wearing its age very gracefully on the palate, which is sweetly-mellowed but still showing that good plum-skin bite of acid and moreish tannin. If Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Barbera were having a dinner party, Gamba di Pernice would be Barbera's long-lost schoolfriend who turns up a bit late (having had a few already), makes sparkling conversation and steals the show, only to disappear and never be heard from again....
