Bartolo Mascarello, Freisa, 2011

Freisa is one of Piedmont's great oddball grapes—a relative of Nebbiolo that's wild, a little rustic, sometimes faintly fizzy or off-dry, and adored by insiders. In Bartolo Mascarello's hands it's dry, structured, and serious, made exactly like their Barolo: organic farming, native yeasts, big old casks. The 2011 has had over a decade in bottle, which is exactly what tames Freisa's youthful edge into something more harmonious and savory. A rare, back-vintage bottle from a private cellar for the Piedmont-obsessed.