2016 Olek Bondonio Barbaresco Roncagliette - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (12/30/2020)
Outstanding now, if a little taut, but this is definitely the sort of nebbiolo that I love, and will be eagerly looking for more vintages to add to my cellar. Limpid colour and crystalline fruit, with pronounced floral elements on the nose, this is a wine which is intoxicating from its aromas. There is a slight hint of earthiness that adds complexity to an already incredible nose. Admittedly, the nose is better than the palate right now, as this comes across as fairly stern with its imposing tannins. There are glimpses of sweet red fruit through the tannins, and I think there is certainly enough fruit here such that I don’t expect it to dry out before these young tannins soften either. Absolutely brilliant stuff. (93 pts.)
This is one of those bottles I am so sad i missed out on! Lucky you 
I’ve had one or two Bondonio Roncagliettes that have been somewhat off or slightly aldehydic, but all the other Bondonio wines that I’ve tasted have been nothing short of outstanding. That 2016 Roncagliette is a beautiful - albeit still a forbiddingly tannic - Nebbiolo. Bondonio seems to be a bubbling-under name in Langhe - and for a good reason.
My own observations weren’t that different from yours:
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2016 Olek Bondonio Barbaresco Roncagliette - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (20.1.2020)
Organic. Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, macerated for 60 days with the skins. Aged for approximately 20 months in old Slavonian oak bottis. 14% alcohol. Tasted blind.
Remarkably pale, thin raspberry red color. Looks almost like a deep, dark rosé rather than a red wine. Brooding, ripe and juicy nose with attractive, fine-tuned aromas of wizened black cherries, some dusty earthy tones, a little bit of sweet pruney fruit, light strawberry tones, a hint of tar and a touch of brambly raspberry. The wine is firm, intense and quite tightly-knit on the palate with ripe yet very dry and savory flavors of game, tart cranberry, sour cherry bitterness, some meaty umami, light notes of earth floor, a hint of stony minerality and a touch of blood. The high acidity and textural yet very grippy tannins make the wine feel quite tough and unapologetic, yet still the wine is not lacking one bit in finesse. The finish is dry, tough and textural with very grippy tannins and lengthy flavors of fresh raspberries, stony minerality, some earthy tones, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light notes of lingonberries, a hint of rusty iron and a peppery touch of phenolic spice.
An outstanding, very tightly-knit and tremendously promising Barbaresco from the more natural end that is brimming with potential. The pale, limpid appearance gives no indication whatsoever what kind of tannic beast this wine really is. The wine is not as aggressively tannic as the Giuseppe Cortese Rabaja 2013 that was tasted alongside, but definitely more tightly-knit and drier in style than the Bondonio Roncagliette 2016. The overall style here would be bordering on austere, if it weren’t for the intense fruit flavors that counterpoint the structural elements wonderfully. The wine is still very angular and unresolved, and most likely it is going to remain that way for many more years. I wouldn’t think of approaching this wine before its 10th birthday. Definitely built for the long haul. Very highly recommended. (94 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
This was one of the standouts for me from
the Chambers 2016 barbaresco tasting. Did not get much buzz at the tasting, and some even refused to taste it calling him a modern producer (?)… but I picked up a couple 750 and mag from Lopa Wine at a good price. Seemed so stuffed with material, I had thought to give them a decade to even try again.