Selve, Picotendro "Castagno" (2015) – Valle d'Aosta

£62.00

Chestnut-aged Nebbiolo from a warm year, and worth grabbing while the 2015 lasts.

The 2015 Castagno comes from the same family and the same steep terraces as the 2016, so it's a chance to compare two vintages of one wine side by side. Buy a bottle of each and open them together.

THE GRAPE
100% Picotendro, grown without chemicals on Selve's south-facing pergola terraces in Donnas. The terraces hold onto the sun's heat well into the evening, which helps the grapes ripen even at this altitude.

THE WINE
Aged in chestnut rather than oak, so it's soft-edged and highly perfumed, with a plush texture and a finish that lingers. As with all of Selve's wines, it is built to last, and by now it should be showing more depth than the younger Castagno.

FOOD PAIRING
Roast game birds, wild boar ragù, aged mountain cheeses, mushroom risotto.