Alberto Oggero, Roero Anime DOCG (2023) – Piemonte

Roero's boldest statement: century-old Nebbiolo vines, one hillside.

THE GRAPE
100% Nebbiolo, drawn from a single centenary vineyard — vines pushing 100 years old, planted at high density on a southwest-facing slope of pure Roero sand. Where "Sandro" is Nebbiolo at its most playful, Anime is the same grape that asked a much harder question: what happens when you give it a century of roots and total restraint in the cellar.

THE WINE
Anime — "soul" — is Oggero's flagship, and the name isn't decoration. Destemmed fruit ferments in concrete with a submerged cap, then ages slowly across large cask, tonneaux and concrete before release. The result unfolds patiently: wild cherry and dried rose give way to blood orange, anise, crushed stone and forest herbs, layered rather than stacked. On the palate it's powerful yet composed — real depth, vivid acidity, finely sculpted tannins running long through a mineral finish. This is a wine built to prove Roero belongs in the same conversation as Barolo and Barbaresco, and it makes its case slowly, over decades if you let it.

THE FOOD PAIRING
Braised beef, white truffle pasta, aged Piemonte cheeses, wild mushroom risotto. Open well ahead of time, or better, cellar it.

THE WINEMAKER
Alberto Oggero farms a little over four hectares in Santo Stefano Roero, all organic, all spontaneous fermentation, nothing filtered or fined. Anime is where his philosophy is least compromised — one ancient vineyard, minimal intervention, and total trust in what a century of Roero sand can produce. It's the wine that's quietly repositioning him as one of the appellation's most serious names, not just its most promising young one.