Cantina d'Arcy Langhe Nebbiolo 2023

If you're a young winemaker looking to start a domaine, the safe option is to head somewhere away from the spotlight. Breaking through as an outsider in Barolo, Italy's most illustrious wine village, is a far more daunting challenge. But Tom Myers, a single-minded Kiwi who previously worked at an impressive array of the world's greatest domaines (Alain Graillot, Marquis d'Angerville, Rinaldi...) has the determination and the talent it takes. When we first tasted his Cantina d'Arcy wines we couldn't believe how impressive they were. We immediately decided to import them.

Cantina d'Arcy started in 2019, when Tom and his pal Philine Isabelle Dienger signed a lease on 1.2ha of Barolo's 'Preda' Cru, dividing the vines between them. After selling future allocations of his as yet unmade Barolo, Tom produced his first vintage from the 2020 harvest.

Tom follows local tradition with open-top containers and wild yeast fermentations. But as an outsider, he's not afraid to make up his own mind when the rules get in the way – even if it means dropping the Barolo name. Barolo must spend at least 18 months in oak, but Tom found no benefit in more than a year in barrel. So he has cut his oak ageing and declassified his 'Preda', which is now labelled as 'Pre-' Vino Rosso.

"My favourite ever wines, from Domaine Leroy and Soldera, are all immediately generous and intellectually stimulating – so I asked myself what I had to do with Nebbiolo to get that kind of experience," he says.

It's a big aim, but the wines deliver. Both the Langhe Nebbiolo and 'Pre-' offer richness and detail that is the hallmark of top Nebbiolo.