1998 Veglio Barolo Vigneto Arborina

Producer Mauro Veglio, a disciple of the great Elio Altare, made some of the best Barolos of the 1998 vintage. His parcel of the famed Arborina vineyard gives a wine that’s rich in color and highly aromatic, with all the complexities we’ve come to love in these fabled wines from Piedmont. It rides a line between traditional and new with its ripe, lush fruit, round tannins and taste of plums, cherries and tobacco. A real beauty.

This is something to jump on if you’re a Barolo fan, because the 1999s are surely going to spike up in price. Equally as good are Veglio’s other two single-vineyard Barolos, which are the Gattera and Castelletto. Grab these if you see them.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Quick swirl

Region: Piedmont, Italy

Price: From $32

to $42

Style: Medium-bodied, aromatic and super-delicious

Food it goes with: Roasted meats and game

Where you find it: Wine Exchange in Orange, (714) 974-1454 or (800) 76WINEX; Wine House in Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731; and Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111.

--S. Irene Virbila