L'Avvelenata, DOC Colli Tortonesi , Vino Rosso, Vigneti Massa, 2020

Freisa is a grape that has always lurked in the shadows of Piemonte’s Big Three: Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto. So much so that Walter, always up for a joke, decided to call this wine ‘Poisoned’, a reference to the low esteem in which Freisa was traditionally held. As you can imagine, Walter’s Freisa is utterly delicious and, in a vintage such as 2020 (Walter drily remarked upon tasting this that ‘the vines didn’t get Covid’) shows up with a bouquet full of hawthorn dog rose, hay, black cherry, mulberry and Victoria plum. This is a vivacious, gluggable red with nicely judged tannins and a lively streak of acidity. –mp