Oddero Barbaresco 1961

The deep, pure and very refined nose wafts from the glass in a mélange of red and black cherries, road tar, tobacco ash, forest floor, a gentle note of anise and an autumnal note of charred wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still very vibrant, with a lovely core of sweet fruit, fine focus and grip, melted tannin, good acids and excellent balance on the complex and very long finish.

There is a touch more of the “noble rusticity” to the 1961 Oddero than is found in the more elegant 1964 and 1967 versions, but this too is an outstanding bottle of old Barolo with decades of life still ahead of it.