2025 Nervi-Conterno "Il Rosato" Vino Nebbiolo Rosato

I said it last year and I will say it again: this is my favorite rosato, full stop. When Roberto Conterno — the man behind Giacomo Conterno and Monfortino — bought the historic Nervi estate in Gattinara in 2018, nobody expected the rosé to become one of the most talked-about wines in the cellar. Yet here we are. Nervi is the oldest working winery in Gattinara, founded in 1906, and Il Rosato is 100% Nebbiolo from the estate's own vineyards. Roberto dropped the Uva Rara from the old Nervi Rosa to let the grape speak, and he uses fruit from slopes most producers would reserve for their top reds. Fermented in steel and rested four months on the lees in cement, it takes its texture from the lees and its spine from the iron-rich volcanic soils of Alto Piemonte. The 2025 pours a pale coral with copper glints. The nose is Alto Piemonte Nebbiolo in miniature: wild strawberry, blood orange, rose petal, alpine herbs and a flinty, smoky mineral streak. On the palate, it is bone-dry and taut, with electric acidity, a saline grip and the faintest whisper of Nebbiolo tannin on a long, mouth-watering finish. Vinous gave it 93, and I think they were being careful. Forget the calendar. This is not a summer wine; it is a Nebbiolo that happens to be pink, and it belongs on the October table with vitello tonnato, fried anchovies or a plate of salumi as much as it did in July. Conterno pedigree for thirty dollars: buy it by the case before I do.