Luigi Pira Barolo Marenca 2018

The Pira Barolo Marenca 2018 is a powerful, deep Serralunga Barolo. Wild dark cherry, spice, menthol, licorice, plums, dried herbs, and mocha infuse the 2018 with tons of character. There is plenty of richness and intensity. 
There is a lot of wine here. This is a fine, fine showing. 94 GALLONI

The Pira wines made their first showing at Wines in Tandem during an indepth educational tasting on Italian reds, "The Big Bs of Itally".  Even though it was 'just' their Serraluga bottling, it was a showpiece wine of ther evening. Dark, suspenseful, and intriguing, the 2018 vintage took some time to open up to its real charm. This Marenca is a single vineyard bottling that is just 6 hecates, planted in 1990.  Only two cantinas make estate bottle wine from Marenca, the other being Gaja (which costs many times more). The vineyard is at 350 meters elevation, on calcareous clay soils with south-southwest exposure.

Highly recommended wine from this excellent producer in Serralunga d'Alba.  

Critic reviews:

This Barolo flashes its fruity side, with bright cherry and raspberry flavors accented by rose, tobacco and a hint of black pepper. Firms up yet remains vibrant, with a lingering, spicy aftertaste. 
 600 cases made, 200 cases imported. 93 WS 

Aromas of cherries and raspberries, enriched by perfumed oak. Full-bodied with a dense, silky bead of fruit and tannin that gives good length. The fruit and oak tannins are nicely integrated here, giving a grainy, velvety framework to the wine. The fruit persists nicely. Excellent quality here, but give it another couple of years for even better integration. 94 JS