At $5 back then, now worth hundrends, with 12% alcohol,the 1968 Vallana Spanna Del Piemonte scored 16+ Dionysian points on its 20-point scale. Slanting the glass, the wine showed a full inch of amber brown, but was still a classic Nebbiolo wine with tar and rose pedal notes.
After decanting, it was soft as cashmere and took another forty-five minutes to fully open.

Spanna is the local nick-name for Nebbiolo is one region of the Piedmont area in Northern Italy. Notice their spelling difference. The wine was served with fish; a salmon because it was so soft and it paired well. Italians serve reds with fish many times.

At 52 years old, the 1968’s are my anniversary wine and they’ve held up better than me. It was a weak year in France, but Italy and Spain made age-worthy reds that year. This was the first year we couldn’t share the bottle with anyone else. The Piedmont Region has many wine treasures that are all designed to serve with food. Seek them out and learn about them all.In Vino Veritas.