Pio Cesare Barolo Chinato

The Pio Cesare NV Barolo Chinato pours from the bottle with a dark amber color with shiny chestnut highlights. This fortified digestif shows amazing purity and intensity, with aromas that you can list and identify clearly one by one. There is balsam and medicinal herb with minty cough syrupy, cola and candied orange peel. With time, you might also sense some Moroccan spice or toasted Spanish cedarwood. The alcohol content is registered at 16% although it surely feels much higher. Balanced sweetness wraps smoothly over the palate. I'm never quite sure how to assign a drinking window to Barolo Chinato, and it is ostensibly built to last forever.

Pio Cesare resumed production of Barolo Chinato in 2016 after a 60-year lapse, resuscitating the family recipe that had been safeguarded by Rosy Boffa, the founder’s granddaughter. It feels rich as Christmas cake, with heady aromas of mountain herbs and flavors of cinnamon, molasses and cardamom brightened by a spray of orange zest. Enjoy its warm flavors on a cold winter night alongside a dark chocolate dessert.