Water was, in fact, quite abundant. Although winter and early spring were dry, 2018’s soggy conditions had left groundwater replenished. An occasionally wet summer and autumn kept vines in balance. Rainy periods were also cooler, lowering disease pressure. Scarpa’s Silvio Trinchero said that although May and June were quite demanding in the vineyards, reducing quantity (in fact, yields were down as much as a third in some places), quality was unaffected. Scattered hail also affected yields, but without the traumatic events of 2017 and 2018. Harvest occurred in mid-October in most areas, quite late by modern standards.

Read more: The Barolo and Barbaresco Report 2023

In my tastings and discussions through the region, two recurring themes for this vintage have emerged: ‘aromatic freshness’ (according to Ettore Germano’s Sergio Germano) and ‘structure and ageing potential’ (Scarpa’s Trinchero; Giuseppe Mascarello’s Elena Mascarello). I found both qualities, though the former predominated – except in bottlings from the Serralunga commune, which were more firm and even reticent (plus the rare Monforte MGAs on Lequio formation soils, like Sordo’s Perno). Tasting Gaja’s Conteisa (La Morra) and Sperss (Serralunga) side by side was instructive: the former loose and airy, the latter darker and rigid, both blazing with acidity.

To which recent vintage is the 2019 most comparable? Trinchero suggests the 2013, which had similar structure and ageing potential; as such, he estimates the 2019s will come into balance in a decade. Quality-wise, Sergio Germano puts 2019 in a league with 2013, 2016 and 2021. By contrast, Gaja described 2020 as ‘a really juicy vintage like 2000 or 2004’, remarking on its light tannins, intense fragrance and fruit expression.

Having tasted only a handful of 2020 Baroli (Vajra presented each of its crus from 2019 and 2020 side by side), I found more succulence and less commanding acidity. However, it feels too soon to make a fair assessment. In the meantime, the 2019s will go down remarkably easily – they are wines of structure and seriousness, yes, but they are also filled with the sensuous pleasures of youth, not to be missed.