Nebbiolo previews 2024: Roero DOCG 2021, Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Roero Riserva DOCG 2020, Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2019 and Retrospectives

Barbaresco 2021

What is Barbaresco? The answer can’t help but be complex, but the best approach is to look back, to recall some of the finest nebbiolo tasted from the denomination’s villages and communes, of Alba, Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso. Memories of unrelenting Barbaresco having acted out with impunity, aromatic exoticism, power, fragrance, precision and balance. Exceptional and unparalleled nebbiolo built upon tannic building blocks, understood, necessary, gratifying and satisfying. Recollection and reminiscence will return to the most human emotions, to the most underestimated of Piedmontese wines. Those that make you think, smile, wink, cry and sigh. They that speak of the vineyard and how properly they are treated. The nebbioli that get under your skin, teach you what you need to know and tell you that everything is alright. Barbaresco as good friends, therapists and if need be, they can be festaioli.

Albeisa presentation in Alba

The finest Barbaresco knows itself like a great human perfectly comfortable in its own skin and it might live to the age of 30 without experiencing one single moment of stress. They are quietly mature and in a lovely state of nebbiolo being, cautiously complex, gently stirring emotion, reserved, demure and only wishing to be experienced in states of calm and comfort. Aromas but a whisper and flavours tacitly generous, unspoken while turning up the volume. Low and slow development lingering tannin, untangled, untwisted and liberated. Nebbiolo spoken with the utmost clarity and reminders that Barbareschi can offer some of the greatest nebbiolo values. Think of a vintage and forward 15 years to when the integration of fruit causes the wine to become a victim of happy imbibers. Such is the case for the imagination and projections for two dozen international journalists gathered at the Albeisa Wines offices in Alba for the 28th edition of Nebbiolo Prima. Each possessive of their pwn personal calling to mind of past experiences in order to bring about a focus on the present.

Albeisa – Barbaresco

Barbaresco from Alba are to a nebbiolo very pretty examples, red fruit openly generous and available with fresh roses as the main perfume. Most are lovely with mid term aging potential. For the village and commune of Barbaresco 2021 is an airy, dreamy and ethereal vintage with that lightness of nebbiolo being that might make some think this style could not exist at a high level of nebbiolo. They would be wrong because this is precisely what it means to be Barbaresco, albeit weightless and still by dint of being supremely confident. The fruit is in play, the tannins austere, not yet ready to join the fray and the potential is spoken in unwritten ways. From Neive the nebbioli are village typical of this full and substantial aromatic presence as if the perfume were predicated on glycerol, or at least the equivalent per se. More airy and open quality but also nervy, with real fruit flavours that receive accent from sweet spice. As for Treiso, the wines are richly grippy and of a power that needs to relent before these nebbiolo can be assessed and enjoyed in plain sight. So correct in their aromatic ways, not looking for praise, but worthy of it anyway. Intense nebbiolo here from Treiso, implosive and really tightly wound.

Alba

The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva are young, high flying, out of the blue, up there in the thinning air, unencumbered by wood or gravity. Plenty of fantasy, singular style and distinction, built on substantial fruit, fluidity, ease, calm and a well structured frame. As for the season coming next for Riserva, 2020 was launched by a Spring with quite a bit of rain, followed by a warm summer and then a normal harvest in the last week of September into the first of October for both the nebbiolo of Roero and Barbaresco. When the 2023s come into play they will be the children unscathed with no significant problems noted in the Langhe, especially as it pertains to the perenospera (downy mildew) virus. In fact 2021 was a much more difficult and challenging vintage due to extreme climatic events.

Presenting Albeisa wines in Alba

Roero 2021 showed as well if not better than at any previous Anteprima for the region. Very forward fruit with a distinct vintage nebbiolo feel, in other words true specificity for nebbiolo with Roero as its host. Expressive wines were made of great richness and acids are still working through their repetitions. As per the sandy-mineral-clay soils the chalky tannins work nebbiolo with good pulse and so the potential is, well potentially great. The 2020 vintage is a charming one for Roero nebbiolo, perhaps less extracted and concentrated as compared to some but no less important or structured for good aging potential. In the finer examples fruit quality is there to stand up and be counted alongside structural parts. Well made wines in 2020, with clear ambition to age, which they will do quite well. There is some reduction but this seems to be a trend for Roero Riserva from the vintage.

Marina Marcarino, President Albeisa Wines

Year after year the opportunity to taste so many Nebbiolo and pay visits with producers is made possible by the organization of the Consorzio Albeisa and the leadership of President Marina Marcarino. Langhe Vini are supported and valorized by the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani and these tastings support the mission. Much of the Anteprima’s success is facilitated by A-B Comunicazione team of Anna Barbon, Linda Foltran and Cinzia Luxardo. This twenty eighth year of Nebbiolo Prima once again acted as the official international preview for the nebbiolo of Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero. The following are Godello’s Roero and Barbaresco notes from Nebbiolo Prima 2024. There are 111 reviews in total; (11) Roero DOCG 2021, (15) Roero Riserva DOCG 2020, (3) Roero Riserva DOCG 2010, (62) Barbaresco DOCG 2021, (13) Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2019, (3) Barbaresco DOCG 2011 and (4) Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2009.

If you would like to view the top scoring wines from this report please click here.

Roero 2021

Roero DOCG 2021

Bric Castelvej Roero DOCG 2021, Canale

Very forward fruit with a distinct vintage nebbiolo feel, straight away into the wild strawberry mixed with pomegranate way. Langhe and nebbiolo from Roero must be distinct and different than Barbaresco which is precisely what this is. Acids are very fine and tannins very manageable. Not a heavily structured wine, nor does it need to be. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Malabaila di Canale Roero DOCG Bric Volta 2021, Canale

A bit deep in fruit as compared with some yet also reserved, nearly dullish aromatically speaking. Some potency and alcohol blocking the view to perfume. Chewy with a vanilla-caramel fudge quality that detracts from an “expected” Roero style. That is if such a thing is definable but this meets other expectations. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cornarea Roero DOCG 2021, Canale

Light and transparent for easy access nebbiolo from Roero, aromatically perfumed if demurely so. Crisp and tart, basic tannins with no real bite and soft spice. Basic and serviceable. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Battaglino Angelo di Battaglino Margherita Roero DOCG pQlin 2021, Castellinaldo

True specificity for nebbiolo with Roero as its host, here from the Castagnito cru and clearly respected as such. Mild sausage in swarthy notes that keep the aromas as the transfixed point of optics and olfactory interest. Then things turn over to a palate equally curious, attractive and wild. It’s all here for the interest and the taking. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Marsaglia Roero DOCG Brich d’America 2021, Castellinaldo

Truly tart and high acid nebbiolo from fruit pulled out of the cru called Castellinaldo. Rich and sumptuous though thinning on the palate or rather a wine that turns into this linear scintillant by varietal design. It’s a curious one that’s just a bit fraught with acetic matters. Can see the appeal for those who look for high caste tonality and energy. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Ponchione Maurizio Roero DOCG Monfrini 2021, Govone

Cask sample: Very quiet nose from a nebbiolo reticent to open and set forth whatever it wishes to say. Requires major swirl, agitation and imagination. The palate is expressive of great richness and acids are still working through their repetitions. Chalky tannins and good pulse. Plenty off potential here. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Frea Lorenzo e Giovanni Roero DOCG 2021, Montaldo Roero

From the cru called Montaldo Roero and a nebbiolo with a notable and frankly knowable scent of diesel. Curious as to what causes this sort of aroma? Also pencil lead, graphite and cool metal. Clearly a terroir slash mineral example that has been exaggerated by the fermentative decisions. Crunchy wine and hopefully one to flesh out once these austere and drying tannins begin to dissipate. The potential is, well potentially great. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Manuele Priolo Roero DOCG Anime Nere 2021, Monteu Roero

Quite acetic, verging on uncompromisingly swarthy and reductive in the most rubbery of ways. Agitation does little to blow it away. Barnyard though it’s not a case of Brettanomyces. Faulted in any case. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Lanzarotti di Ferrero Carlo Vittorio Roero DOCG Bin Fait 2021, Più comuni

Truly fruity aromatics, almost candy floss but confected in any case with strawberry the first to drive imagination and so perhaps we can get some satisfaction. Tannic, chalky and with a fully unctuous quality to speak of a wine that should shed the confiture and settle in before becoming something special. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Azienda Agricola Rosavica Benotti Roero DOCG 2021, Priocca

Could be the cru, the winemaking or better still both because the structure in this Roero is at the tops for the range off “Classica” nebbioli. Austere tannins, fine if sweet acids and more than ample fruit prepare this 2021 Priocca for a long life ahead, Something about this MGA that speaks volumes about the potential for Roero. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cordero Gabriele Roero DOCG 2021, Priocca

The second of two Priocca cru is entirely apposite to the first, still tannic but here austere and really closed up front. There is some solid fruit hiding beneath and the palate tells a more open story but still the MGA is without a doubt the kind to create age-worthy nebbiolo. This sets a table for Roero to express heritage but with knowledge in pocket because making wine today is a new matter and one to allow wines to open in a year or two and then last for several after that. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Tasting Roero and Barbaresco blind at Albeisa Headquarters – Alba

Roero Riserva DOCG 2020

Careglio Pierangelo Roero Riserva DOCG Valmezzana 2020, Baldissero d’Alba

A charming vintage for Roero nebbiolo, perhaps less extracted and concentrated as compared to some but no less important or structured for good aging potential. Here from the area of Baldissero d’Alba with more than ample stuffing to march alongside tannins already beginning to resolve. This Riserva is very close to its peak that should come about before the end of this calendar year. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Malabaila di Canale Roero Riserva DOCG Castelletto 2020, Canale

Higher toned nebbiolo here for Roero, bright and unencumbered by gravity. Some compaction in the tannin but not the fruit which rises weightless and free. Not a fully together communion but more so a Canale in two parts with wood standing apart as a result. Will continues to meet closer to the middle as it ages but drinking this in the next five to seven years is key because after that the fruit freshness will no longer be hanging around. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Ca’ Rossa di Ferrio Angelo Roero Riserva DOCG Mompissano 2020, Canale

Some funky beats in this Roero, local cheese rind and cured meat skins, a definite porcino feel and all that Canale savoir faire. Smells like the Alba market in late November, replete with dried porcini and fresh tartufi. Complex and parochial, tart, full of tang and a tincture of bitters. A special nebbiolo if not the most modern or unassuming kind. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Bric Castelvej Roero Riserva DOCG Panera Alta 2020, Canale

High-toned and quiet acetic on the nose which is a bit off-kilter for Roero as Riserva. Excess wood, overtly stemmy and savoury. Too vivid and the wood is so in our faces without tact. This will need to settle but may never do so, especially because what fruit there is feels so muddled by the wood and startling piques. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

F.lli Casetta di Casetta Ernesto e c. Roero Riserva DOCG 2020, Canale

Quite a classic set of Roero nebbiolo aromas and enough substance behind the structure to put this at Riserva level quality. Lots of wood noted as well but as mentioned there is ample concentration from quality fruit to stand up and be counted alongside. Well made wine with clear ambition to age which it will do quite well. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Malvirà dei F.lli Damonte Roero Riserva DOCG Renesio 2020, Canale

Truly rich nebbiolo in Riserva form for Canale and Roero in a near perfect storm of all parts involved. In fact despite the ambitious wood there is really good and concentrated fruit of high quality to mix and match along. Rich and strong wine, lots of chocolate and potential to age up there with some of the finer Roero. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Lanzarotti di Ferrero Carlo Vittorio Roero Riserva DOCG Carlinöt 2020, Canale

Quite reductive for the trilogy of variety, vintage and place. A rubbery example of nebbiolo, woody 2020 and liquid peppery Roero to Canale. Rich enough, concentrated fruit and sturdy to not only handle but transform those reductive misgivings. Comes away tougher, stronger and equipped to handle the future. In the end the quality and potential are quite great. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Valdinera Roero Riserva DOCG San Carlo 2020, Corneliano d’Alba

Reduction though less than others but this seems to be a trend for Roero Riserva from the 2020 vintage. A real silky glycerol iteration here from Corneliano d’Alba with richness and fulsome qualities. Some bitter herbs and tight at the finish yet otherwise a sound and grippy wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Renato Buganza Roero Riserva DOCG Renato Buganza 2020, Guarene

The Guarene nebbiolo is quite aromatically potent for Roero, a boozy feel straight away, a real punch up the olfactory. A swirl of liquor managed by thick glycerol and a heaviness with some Brettanymyces showing up on the palate. A bit shaggy with brittle tannins as a result. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Pelassa Daniele Roero Riserva DOCG S…….I 2020, Montà

Montà delivers a very pretty and charming example of nebbiolo from Roero with naturally sweet parts from start to finish. Fruit is conjoined to tannin by way of acids that are the catalyst and the ties that bind the wine. This is lovely and graceful, Riserva worthy and willing to please, if just about right away. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Negro Angelo & Figli di Giovanni Negro Roero Riserva DOCG Sudisfà 2020, Monteu Roero

Reductive and a bit swarthy here, some acetic notions mixed with swirling emotions. A bit buggy, hairspray, vinyl shower curtain action and so faults are faults, no matter the grape, time or place. Not a happy iteration of nebbiolo, 2020 or Monteu Roero I’m afraid. Over the top wood to boot. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Ca’ Rossa di Ferrio Angelo Roero Riserva DOCG Le Coste 2020, S. Stefano Roero

Sone stoic personality here and quire reserved for Roero in Riserva clothing. Thick aromatic swirl, round and round it goes, never stopping and when it will no one knows. As with so many of its ilk the summary is marked by wood that cloaks and sheathes the fruit so that it submits and succumbs. Too much wood and the question is why? Structure and aging but fruit freshness must be there for the beginning to project real success. There is some but it’s covered and hidden. By the time it finds its way out it will mostly be gone. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Demarie Giovanni di Demarie Aldo Roero Riserva DOCG 2020, Vezza d’Alba

Cask sample: Now for something completely different. Ribena? Yes, that is Ribena, up front and central to the notes in this nebbiolo. Ribena that may dissipate once bottled but will always be part of the fabric. That and an overuse of wood. Vanilla and lavender are omnipresent and the nebbiolo is lost. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Chicco Roero Riserva DOCG Valmaggiore, Vezza d’Alba

Fine aromatic nebbiolo for Roero comes like this and we appreciate the honesty. In Riserva terms the wood is as ambiguous and/or integrated as well as any in the category. It’s there but it works in tandem with quality fruit just concentrated enough to handle and play well in the box. Somewhat simple but very serviceable wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Giacomo Barbero Roero Riserva DOCG Valmaggiore 2020, Vezza d’Alba

Well managed tannin and wood have set this Roero up for good success. A balanced nebbiolo for Vezza d’Alba, of middle road taken parts, concentrated but not excessively so and oak that works the same line. Good bones but again, nothing large, ambitious or serious about it. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Carciofi – La Piola, Alba

Roero Riserva DOCG 2010

Malvirà dei F.lli Damonte Roero Riserva DOCG Trinità 2010, Canale

Fine shape and steading at 13-plus years of age for nebbiolo from Roero, quietly and comfortably secondary without worry from advancing into tertiary anytime soon. A Christmas cake or plum pudding kind of state, home cooking and acidity very much in tact. Easement with nebbiolo of yesteryear to act as spokeswine for why Roero should be discussed today in its own light. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2024

Negro Angelo & Figli di Giovanni Negro Roero Riserva DOCG Sudisfà 2010, Più comuni

A Più comuni nebbiolo that has lost its aromatics but neither its sheen nor lustre after 13+ years post vintage. Now only acid relatable smells, a varnish or a spray and while the palate is slightly more expressive it’s still about all concepts tart. No fruit to speak of, nor complexities truly secondary. Tasted January 2024

Cascina Chicco Roero Riserva DOCG Valmaggiore 2010, Vezza d’Alba

More maturity for sure on the aromas though they are exotically charged and emotionally inviting. Tones are set to high and surely always were for nebbiolo that would have been dominated by red citrus in its primary fruit stages. Now the wood is noticed, melted and pooled in a macerated mess of evolution and reeking of varnishes. The perfumes are sweet, the flavours sour but like chewy confections, gum arabic “pate de jujubes” so-to-speak. Like dessert nebbiolo with just a gram or two of residual sugar. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted January 2024

Barbaresco 2021 – Alba

Barbaresco DOCG 2021

Alba

Alessandro Rivetto Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Alba

Barrel sample: Somewhat mature and already advanced for a wine not yet bottled or supposed to be ready. Dried fruit notes, like leathery plum and persimmon, juicy enough yet knowably moving forward with haste. Quite the level of tang though acidity is mild and this will clearly need to be consumed in the near term. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Masseria Di Delmonte Pierina Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2021, Alba

Very pretty example of nebbiolo from Alba as Barbaresco, red fruit openly generous and available with fresh roses as the main perfume. Crisp and also a 2021 you can sink your teeth into, with fine acidity and equally representative tannin. A truly proper example of Barbaresco for mid-plus aging. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Adriano Marco e Vittorio Barbaresco DOCG Sanadaive 2021, Alba

Quite the pretty aromatics and a simple palate with a bit of weakness or hollowness in the middle parts. Tannins dry out, not brittle mind you but they don’t add to the equation. A Barbaresco by subtraction. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Manera Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Rizzi 2021, Alba

Cask sample: This first look at the Barbaresco cru and while this both expresses for upfront fruit and also delivers a structured message, it’s not quite as stiff and vertical as some of its nebbiolo counterparts. That red fruit design might come from more organic or generous terroir within the cru or the winemaking might pull the fruit quicker and keep the tannins at bay. Either way it’s a lovely example of Barbaresco with mid term aging potential. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco 2021 – Alba and Barbaresco

Barbaresco

Giordano Luigi Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Asili 2021, Barbaresco

An airy, dreamy and ethereal quality in presentation with that lightness of nebbiolo being that might make some think this will not exists at a high level of Barbaresco. They would be wrong because this is precisely what it means to be Barbaresco, albeit weightless and still by dint of being supremely confident. The fruit is in play, the tannins austere, not yet ready to join the fray and the potential is spoken in unwritten ways. Wait three years to get some answers. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset 2021, Barbaresco

Reduction spoken though volatile compounds, liquid peppery and a vague moment’s notice of Brettanomyces. Nothing egregious but definitely an accent of style. Lots of substance here, weight and also flesh, not to mention drying tannins. The austerity is positive and while the volatility will also have its say this traditional and characterful Barbaresco will please the buyer who looks for those mired and paying homage to traditional ways. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Culasso Piercarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset 2021, Barbaresco

Thin and unassuming aromas followed by similar nondescript palate notions. A touch jammy but also green and weedy. Nothing egregious but nor is this offering up anything special, especially by Barbaresco standards. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Culasso Piercarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset Duesoli 2021, Barbaresco

Cask sample: Really knowable nebbiolo nose from the Barbaresco cru, richly defined and of a purity of varietal fruit. Fulsome and substantial of floral meeting mineral openings before transferring seamlessly to flavours equally luxe and supported by essential structure. This is years away from its finale, set upon a course across seas of low, slow and incremental development before it comes to rest on a shore where the world of the Langhe is properly revealed. This my be a sample but it is clearly a wine to drink over a minimum 15 years of time. Wow. Stupendo. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco DOCG Martinenga 2021, Barbaresco

Cask sample: Of the light, taut and demure kind, a nebbiolo held back though one that will never become a big and fleshy affair. Some swarthy chew to the palate which feels quite disparate to the aromatics but as a sample it is given the benefit of the doubt to settle down and in. Some raw dough as well which indicates some incongruence in fermentative temperatures in conjunction with what this Barbaresco fruit requested and required. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Montaribaldi di Taliano Luciano e Taliano Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Montaribaldi 2021, Barbaresco

From the Barbaresco cru and a heady if also impressively floral set of aromas emanating from the glass. Also the first of the 2021s to deliver blood orange and so suddenly thoughts turn to considering that fruit aroma as a hallmark of the vintage, at least for the MGA of Barbaresco. There is some taut behaviour and grip to the mouthfeel so be wary of drinking this anytime soon because it may grab your palate and suck the energy away. Give two years to allow a settling and better integration before this ’21 can initiate the pique to curiosity and potential. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Carlo Giacosa di Giacosa Maria Grazia Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

The nose may be closed on this nebbiolo but it just feels like much is hidden in the hallways, shadows and chiaroscuro of the vintage. A wealth of flesh and likely vertically upright skeletal bones that put this hearty example from Barbaresco at the pinnacle for cru and vintage. Truth in palate confirms suspicion and expectation driven by facts and figures from a sunbeam of a wine built on artistic power and creative science. This will win hearts, minds and palate wherever it may be poured. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cortese Giuseppe di Pier Carlo Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

Some formaggi straight away with good red fruit though less rustic than what that washed rind note would have first seemed to dictate. Solid palate, fleshy and juxtaposed against a drying, genuinely austere backdrop of tannins. This is somewhat old school but also expressive of major personality. Give it two years and enjoy the slow change over the coming eight. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Morassino di Bianco Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Morassino 2021, Barbaresco

Acetic, jumpy, unsettled, very acid driven. Also another balsamic example from vintage where that is the exception to the rule. High toned in just about every respect yet there is a juiciness to the fruit that wells and pools on the palate. Dries out severely at the finish to confirm earlier suspicions and also begs for time. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Castello di Verduno Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

Yet another quiet aromatic entry for a nebbiolo from the Barbaresco MGA, unsurprising and quite typical for the vintage. Some roses as dried as they are fresh (or a mix of the two) and rosy red fruit in the currant-pomegranate style. Crisp and crunchy, with dried herbs, mountain brush and tea. Well made, older-schooled, austere and traditionally very correct. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Rattalino Massimo Barbaresco DOCG Quarantadue42 2021, Barbaresco

Sometimes nebbiolo presents as a swarthy, almost Amaro-inflected liqueur and this would be said example of that style. Luxe both aromatically and also in terms of flavours yet boozy, a tonic of fruits and bitters, stirred, swirled, viscous and unctuous. A bit over the top in this regard and pasty, with a raw potato finish. Given two years it will integrate better but will fall off a cliff another year after that. Drink 2026-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Carlo Giacosa di Giacosa Maria Grazia Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

Cascina Morassino di Bianco Roberto Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

Quiet, quite reserved and immovable nebbiolo, best left to fight another day. Somewhat acetic, of two-toned balsamic notes and it has already become apparent that this is not in fact a balsamic vintage. Tart yet full on the palate and a Barbaresco that reminds of 2017, with dried fruit, dusty tannins and high acid. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Musso di Musso Emanuele Barbaresco DOCG Pora 2021, Barbaresco

Wildly fragrant nebbiolo, knowable and volumetric, confidence exuded and table set for what’s to come. Fruits of many ilk and austere tannins with everything in compliment, though far from integrated. Great grip, potency and structure in what is becoming a hallmark of the vintage: Power without alcoholic presence. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cortese Giuseppe di Pier Carlo Barbaresco Rabaja DOCG 2021, Barbaresco

Just as a comment on the last wine was made about the vintage not being one of alcoholic notability along comes an example that is just that. Then again the fruit and the overt structure seem quite capable of handling the tension and the pressure. Clearly serious nebbiolo here from Barbaresco though also one exuding confidence, high libido and no shame. The first to truly show its casks with ambition and this will live for a decade and potentially two or more. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Rabaja-Bas 2021, Barbaresco

More reserve, more waiting, more time needed to see where a 2021 nebbiolo will travel. Still this is a light and tart example with very drying tannins and not quite enough fruit stuffing to see it conjure great expectations. Fine enough while acids are equally intense to put this in near if not quite top exemplary status. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Musso di Musso Emanuele Barbaresco DOCG Rio Sordo 2021, Barbaresco

Fine pulse and weight to the nose of this nebbiolo from the Barbaresco MGA. Notable and knowable red fruit that comes in waves before crashing at the palate’s shore. But just as waves will do they keep coming in syncopated rhythm and this 2021 is neither calm nor stormy but something in the middle, therefore consistent and imitable. Really good weight, measure and balance overall. Really quite fine and age-worthy. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Poderi Colla Barbaresco DOCG Roncaglie 2021, Barbaresco

Reticent and somewhat thinning if also dishy aromatics. They do improve and flesh out with air so be sure to take a moment and wait with this nebbiolo because it will realize more potential then first thought. Still the palate is simple and while effective it does not grab or cause excitement. It’s dullish and low down. Well enough and good for the short term. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Albino Rocca Barbaresco DOCG Ronchi 2021, Barbaresco

Quite taut, tart and tight nebbiolo with opening grip and an intensity both on the nose and equally so upon the palate. Crunchy and verdant, some freshness but also dried qualities, both floral and herbal. Older schooled, for tradition and heritage, well made, preserved and determined. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco 2021 – Barbaresco and Neive

Neive

Antichi Poderi dei Gallina di Francone Marco Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Neive

More airy and open quality here but also nervy for nebbiolo, of always specific Barbaresco ways. A glycerin feel to the palate and real fruit flavours that receive accent from sweet spice and then forming texture. Really high quality here, some grip to the tannin but not necessarily what one might think of as tension. An elastic sensation, stretching and returning back in balance. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Castello di Neive Barbaresco Albesani DOCG 2021, Neive

So typical of Neive Barbaresco is this full and substantial aromatic presence as if the perfume were predicated on glycerol or at least the equivalent per se. This particular nebbiolo is expressive of something marine in origin, almost oyster shell which could indicate terroir or something blowing in from afar. Either way it’s both curious and piquing for cerebral interest. A wine of substance and complexity, sweet acidity and drying tannin. Kind of classic with a twist, when you think about it. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Adriano Marco e Vittorio Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2021, Neive

Stoic, austere, unrelenting nebbiolo. Holding firm on the aromatic front, keeping still, a target hard to define, pinpoint or access. Fruit in the shadows but its there and we trust that when it emerges the wine will sing in the way that nebbiolo is meant to sing. There are parts to this wine with meaning and again, when things come together the balance will be tight, because we can already intuit such a feeling. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2021, Neive

Light on its feet, simple and selectively structured nebbiolo. Balanced, no out of sort parts or sensations not in line with the others. Today seemingly basic and unexceptional if quite possibly misunderstood in youth – but surely correct for Barbaresco, Basarin and nebbiolo. May come out and awy in a few years and offer new surprises. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Moccagatta Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2021, Neive

The first Barbaresco 2021 of this deep red hue and clearly something extra or pressed sits in this glass. The perfume confirms the suspicion because no other example in a sea of 60 samples appears and is expressed this way. Intensely perfumed, floral to an nth degree and what follows is rich, extremely tart and powerful. The ambition and the wood here are far greater than most and it works, for the most part, but the drying finish tells us that the impression will be shorter lived. The next two years are needed for settling and the following three (or possibly four) will be its most impressive. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Fontanabianca Barbaresco DOCG Bordini 2021, Neive

A solid, richly defined and properly structured nebbiolo with Barbaresco flesh and bones. Nothing overly impressive or excitement but solid, serviceable and exemplary to the degree of requiem or necessity. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Vano di Rivetti Bruno Barbaresco DOCG Canova 2021, Neive

Glycerol, syrupy nebbiolo with a mildly stewed character. Both aromas and palate are in synch with this style and tannins are present if drying and out of that rhythm. Not a lot of equanimity or joy. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Sarotto Barbaresco DOCG Gaia Principe 2021, Neive

One of the darker, more unctuous and well established fruit cumulate nebbiolo from Neive and that is in fact a trait of certain examples from that village and MGA. Much to go on, fruit pectin and terroir so resourceful to bring personality and also character to this nearly formidable wine. Not so much in a structured way because this shows some maturity and hasty development but it’s tasty and useful for the near term. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Negro Giuseppe di Negro Piergiorgio Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2021, Neive

Truly proper Neive entry in perfume of red fruits and flowers so succinctly, purely and precisely defined. No let down in flavours with rich, luxe and some developed notes but the tannins and also acids are inlined to see this carry forward for a proper and serviceable amount of time. Well made, presentable and expressive of the place. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Poderi e Cantine Oddero Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2021, Neive

Reductive in a rubber and liquid peppery way to put this in reserve style for nebbiolo from Neive. The potential just has to be great when you consider the substance that lurks beneath the shell with nary a thought of potential negation. Rich, powerful and structured for long aging to speak for Barbaresco that as modern as it will eventually become inviting. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Bera di Bera Valter Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Neive

Cask sample: Holding firm form and staying tight as the cask sample it should be and one a bit hard to assess at this early stage. Rich of fruit and sweet acids with more than ample to substantial weight in reserve. Quite fine and of a stature that fills the requiem of Barbaresco desire if of a very modern design. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Sarìa di Abbruzzo Francesco Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Neive

Cask sample: Yet another succinct and knowable example of Neive nebbiolo with its glycerol and sweet acids sired into fruit for impressive elixir stature. Much to admire about the nose with its red fruit and florals though there is a hint of Ribena or perhaps strawberry cordial. It’s a lovely swirl, a bit more showy than graceful but worthy of an impression made nonetheless. There are many who will see the flavour and the success in this wine. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco 2021 – Neive

Montaribaldi di Taliano Luciano e Taliano Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Palazzina 2021, Neive

Far from showy, on the lighter, taut and closed side of nebbiolo but the palate will almost certainly tell a different story. That it does with more unction and varietal liqueur, silk and liquid chalky tannin in good support. Some dried fruit there so not a Barbaresco to lay down for a decade and likely quite a bit less than that. The wood here leads to seeing a truffled future arriving before too long. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Fontanabianca Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2021, Neive

Well established, conditioned and positioned Barbaresco from and for Neive. Got the unction and the glycerol but aromatically speaking there is nothing gratuitous about the waves. They arrive and repeat in syncopated rhythm, as does the fruit and acid upon the palate. There are interchangeable moments of fine bitters and tannic pushes that support and extend this nebbiolo for length that lingers and repeats in better, finer and more impressive ways than most. A long term Barbaresco amongst the best. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Lequio Giuseppina Rosanna Barbaresco DOCG Collina Serragrilli 2021, Neive

Dark of hue, richness of colour, pressed for success. Richness and luxe behaviour, all up front on display, a peacock strutting, its feathers for all to see. Low acids and drying tannins for not the best structural combination. Quick exit here. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Alberta Barbaresco DOCG Serragrilli 2021, Neive

Light, swarthy, older schooled, slightly Brettanomyces involved. Not the most substantial or expressive nebbiolo and while this could be looked upon as a late bloomer it does not seem like enough substance is hiding in the shadows. Basic wine at the end of the glass. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Antichi Poderi dei Gallina di Francone Marco Barbaresco DOCG Starderi 2021, Neive

Exotic spicing to nebbiolo may not typically define Neive yet here we are with such an animal in the village’s pot. Some swarthy aromas as well, plenty of wood in every respect and a wine that could use some time to at least try and settle down. Leathery skin, tannins a bit hard and brittle, weight quite well gauged and there is some fashion in this wine. Just a bit all over map if you get the drift. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Lequio Giuseppina Rosanna Collina Serragrilli Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Neive

Lovely aromatic presence, richly defined fruit of purity and expressiveness, fine and open. Exotic spicing and truly floral of a perfume that keeps one from needing to rush into a sip. The palate does not disappoint in fact it carries off and forward with equal ability to hold attention for as long as a participant is willing to hang around. These are tannins as fine as the sweet and supportive acids that precede them. A really impressive Barbaresco, forthright and a test of qualities held in reserve that can be counted upon for a decade and a half more time. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Elvio Cogno Barbaresco DOCG Bordini 2021, Neive

Cask sample: For Walter Fissore 2021 is a much more muscular vintage than either 2019 and 2020, a beautiful if hot vintage though normal season in terms of water. A normal season but today that means powerful wines. Harvested in Neive late September and will go to bottle in February, “at the time of the full moon, not because of biodynamics but because of tradition.” Incredible tannins here, very broad, like shoulders and this is what should be from ’21 Barbaresco, along with freshness and top ranking acidity. Grabs a hold of the palate and refuses to let go. We like that too. Potential is great. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted January 2024

La Libera – Alba

Più comuni

Agricola Molino Barbaresco DOCG Teorema 2021, Più comuni

Cask sample: Big cask sample, as rich and developed of 2021 fruit as any but also those that are already in bottle. It’s all there for the taking and there is already quite a bit of wood resolution on this nebbiolo so can’t really see any reason why it’s not already bottled. Time to get on it! Drink 2024-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Masseria di Delmonte Pierina Barbaresco DOCG Mon Sertù 2021, Più comuni

Just lovely perfume, purity of aromatic fruit, red berries incarnate and a nebbiolo that melts into the olfactory. Suave, silken and yet acids but also tannin show some grip, but never their teeth. A pretty swirl of all parts, variegated while together and though not a Barbaresco for the ages it’s surely one that well represents the category. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Morra Gabriele Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Più comuni

Fine, tight and exemplary which is the way a Barbaresco of Più comuni should attract and deliver the nebbiolo message. Very correct, expressly serviceable, of solid weight, mild volatility, bright acidity and a good example of the fine 2021 vintage. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Socré Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Più comuni

Cask sample: A gentle swarthiness and just that ever so slightly held back, tight and reserved set of qualities confirms the cask sample idea behind the unreleased notion of this wine. It’s not quite ready and yet not so far away so when it hits the bottle it will begin its pleasing phase within a year or so after that. Still in the teasing, pre-tasting way of nebbiolo but the time is approaching. Some Brettanomyces here, nothing urgent mind you but it does dry the finish a bit more than the wine would otherwise likely wish to do. Drink 2025–2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco – Treiso

Treiso

Agricola Molino Barbaresco DOCG Ausario 2021, Treiso

Cask sample: A true cask sample from Treiso that might be considered treason were the desire to taste it be right now. Richly grippy and of a power that needs to relent before this nebbiolo can be assessed and enjoyed in plain sight. Those tannins are demanding and the tension is palpable, only increased because the full and substantial flesh of this wine is wanting to be regulated. This will become something impressive indeed. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Nada Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Casot 2021, Treiso

Sometimes typical can be a less than flattering tern but in this case it is meant to both compliment and admire a Barbaresco from Treiso that start off right. So correct in its aromatic ways, not looking for praise but worthy of it anyway. A rich swirl of fruit, floral and mineral, all parts being equal to set this up for a nebbiolo of great desire. More than solid in every respect, acids so sweet and fulsome, tannins present yet never austere. A really pretty Barbaresco, not for long aging but surely for up to five-plus really good drinking years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Alberta Barbaresco DOCG Giacone 2021, Treiso

Treiso Barbaresco of a different sort, aromatic with herbal notes, some of them dried. Getting rosemary, fennel seed, pencil lead and chalk. More richness and liquidity on the palate that makes for a fine conversion and change of pace. A wine of two parts but each are interesting and inviting in their separate ways. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

La Ganghija di Rapalino Enzo Barbaresco DOCG Giacosa 2021, Treiso

Cask sample: Heavy perfume, rich and unctuous, as is the palate that follows. This is a nebbiolo of mouthfeel, sumptuous and full, substantial and welling with that glycerol feel. Not typically Treiso per se but as a cask sample this could very well change in a year or two. The structure here is more than solid. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Marcarini 2021, Treiso

Very forward for Barbaresco and over the years this seems to be an increasing trend for Treiso. Warmer locations, sunspot and sun-drenching vineyards, major fruit accumulation and lesser if also sweeter tannins in result. In this sense the 2021 here is a perfect example of vintage and place so the conclusion is drink Treiso sooner than most other commune/village examples because (as a rule) they are meant to deliver early in just this way. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Nervo 2021, Treiso

Once again Treiso gives and gives early, of easy to love and get with fruit, all red berries and stone type, tannins present yet unobtrusive. There is a bit more demand in the ones provided this nebbiolo but still it fits the Treiso mold in Barbaresco vernacular. Lovely drop, easy, correct and fashionably modern. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

La Ganghija di Rapalino Enzo Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Treiso

Cask sample: More crisp and crunchy nebbiolo, owing to the not yet bottled cask sample yet still Treiso and verifiably so. The wealthy fruit so naturally sweet with acids very much on a continuance of that line before tannins do nothing to waver or deviate from the party. A sample but one so close to reading itself for drinking. Get this to bottle so it can be enjoyed. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Lodali Walter Barbaresco DOCG Giacone Lorens 2021, Treiso

Less open and immediately gratifying for Treiso Barbaresco yet still an example expressive of some generosity because well, Tresio. All the parts are bigger and yet complimentary in this 2021. The fruit is full, the acids substantial and the tannins a bit more magnanimous than the average village iteration. Flesh and bones heightened, extended and ultimately impressive. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Ca’ Del Baio di Grasso Giulio Barbaresco DOCG Autinbej 2021, Treiso

Brighter and back to the Treiso normal or average from this 2021. That said the wood is a bit heavier and so the vanilla-white chocolate swirl is in full effect. Makes for some artificial feels but still the village is at the heart of the matter. It just can’t help but be. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Munfrin di Flori Michele Barbaresco DOCG Flori 2021, Treiso

Cask sample: Nearly ready for prime time cask sample because first off its Treiso and secondly the aromas are more than open. A gregarious nebbiolo for a sample and one to invite, entice and also draw the senses forward. Not to mention a level of maturity of all three parts of the wine; fruit, acids and tannin. There are all good to go, save for just a moment’s austerity. Will be ready to drink less than a year from now. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Bosio Family Estates Barbaresco DOCG Pajorè 2021, Treiso

More than just a gentle swarthiness marks this 2021’s entry and our senses become acutely and quickly aware of what’s to come. That would be a Treiso Barbaresco of overt personality juxtaposed against the drying of austere tannins. A bit of a disparate situation and challenging game being played. A prime example of a seriously structured nebbiolo that needs time. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Piazzo comm. Armando di Piazzo Marina Barbaresco Pajorè DOCG 2021, Treiso

Intense nebbiolo here from Treiso, implosive and really tightly wound. Good fruit substance though more red lightning and scintillant succulence than your average Treiso iteration. Shows some guts and braun, tension and potential for eventual glory. A big wine though also one so far away from the truest expression it will deliver. Dries out quite a bit at the finish so it feels like tension and lessening fruit will define its descending trajectory. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Vigneti Luigi Oddero e Figli Barbaresco DOCG Rombone 2021, Treiso

A rich and somewhat intense example of nebbiolo with the Treiso grace but exaggeratedly so. The fruit is pure village iterated but the structure is grippier and stronger than your average nebbiolo from there. Chewy one this Treiso, one you can really sink your teeth into its leathery hide. Quite substantial and the potential for aging is surely long. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Ada Nada Barbaresco DOCG Valeirano 2021, Treiso

Back to basics with a light, fruit forward and amenable Tresio nebbiolo. On the left or easy side of the Barbaresco spectrum with tart acids and yet sneaky tannins. This is surely the pomegranate molasses style, textural with its sweet red fruit accented by even sweeter spice. Feel the wood here but it is already beginning to integrate. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Grasso Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2021, Treiso

Cask sample: Nearly ready despite being a cask sample but stay calm and focused because there are some shadowy tannins waiting in the wings. A fineness of nebbiolo coupled with an ease of Treiso style puts this Barbaresco is fine steading and well balanced behaviour. A cheese rind note and also some sweet if musky charcuterie adds complexity if also curiosity. Very well styled, presented and set up for a good long life ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Ca’ del Baio di Grasso Giulio Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2021, Treiso

Crisp, crunchy and drying nebbiolo here from Treiso, not perfectly typical, surely austere and in the end an old-school example. Noticeable wood and more dryness from the tannins that are provided. Time required and heeded will see to a much more open and forthcoming nebbiolo. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco Riserva 2019

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2019

Manera Fratelli Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Rizzi 2019, Alba

Cask sample: A cask sample but a maturing, dare it be said oxidative one. This is precisely the reason that cask sample assessments can be ill-fated and or deceiving. Not much to to go on here I’m afraid. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Camp Gros 2019, Barbaresco

A high-toned, airy and scintillant example of nebbiolo, especially as a Riserva from the 2019 vintage. Shows how place truly matters above all else, or rather it must, no matter the time or intent. Here the truth that is Barbaresco is spoken loud and clear. Present, accounted for and right up there in the stratosphere. Not the most structured vintage but surely or nearly ready for prime time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Albino Rocca Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Ronchi Riserva 2019, Barbaresco

Yet another young, high flying, out of the blue, up there in the thinning air example of Barbaresco unencumbered by wood or gravity. Plenty of fantasy here for nebbiolo from the eponymous village equipped with more substantial fruit than many. A classic iteration so place specific with tannic austerity that works well alongside and in compliment to the uncluttered and spacious fullness of the wine. Ahead of the pack so choose wisely because “you pay for this, but they give you that.” This Ronchi is special, will live a very long time, long after many have lost their lustre, faded away, into the black. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Santo Stefano Albesani 2019, Neive

Some issues here, a flaw that is distracting, acetone namely and it kills the fruit. Problematic to be sure. Two bottles, each the same. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Giacosa Fratelli Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Basarin Vigna Gianmate’ 2019, Neive

Once again a 2019 of distinct style and distinction that speaks in both a clear Neive village vernacular but also for the vintage. This is because both the succulence and also high tonality are set to high. Fine wine here, not overly fulsome or structured but somewhere comfortably in between. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Punset di Marcarino Marina & C. Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Basarin 2019, Neive

Lovely nebbiolo built on substantial fruit, fluidity, ease, calm and a well structured frame. A beautiful Barbareso from Neive that has already resolved quite dutifully and is just about ready to drink with philanthropy in the proverbial window. Steady and graceful, a very charming wine that everyone needs to know. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Sarotto Roberto Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Currà 2019, Neive

Fine Barbaresco, fruit forward and quite full, darker than many, including a great number from the 2019 vintage. Perhaps the kind of nebbiolo that really delivers a Riserva message if done so with more wood than others and so the vanilla-white chocolate swirl is a bit extra. Fine beginning with less enthusiasm felt at the finish. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Lequio Ugo Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Gallina 2019, Neive

High tones and warm ones as well from a Barbaresco that feels boozier and bigger then many. That said the bones are big and strong, the flesh filling in the holes and everything moving in synch, incrementally forward and in a proper developing direction. An impressive Neive nebbiolo and one to gain traction as it ages. Will impress Barolo lovers and they whop seek bigger. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Cascina Vano di Rivetti Bruno Barbaresco Riserva DOCG ‘Il Pilone’ 2019, Neive

Warm and liquid peppery aromatics, big fruit and also wood by design. The barrel holds a bigger say than in many Barbaresco and so the ambition here is clear, present and real. No danger but more time is needed to make things come into place and view. This will surely lead to a truffled and porcini filed future. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Punset di Marcarino Marina & C. Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Campo Quadro 2019, Neive

Tang in flashes, spurts and fits from a nebbiolo that really hits the high notes. This from Neive is recognizable if at the highest of that village’s heights. So much acidity and so little time! Fortunately plenty of fruit to back it up but style is style. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Ciabot 2019, Neive

Many of the Barbaresco Riserva for 2019 are either too young or to vivid to appreciate at this stage but this from Neive is just about right there. Really substantial fruit with that ropey liquorice feel, great red fleshiness and all the right kinds of supporting citrus. No lack for barrel or structure but this hits every note, ticks all boxes, dots the I’s and crosses its T’s. A fully formed, plausible and impressive Barbaresco in every regard. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Nada Giuseppe Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Casmar 2019, Treiso

Yet another nebbiolo set to high, fruit and formaggi, cured meat and musky scents. Crazy acidity and drying tannins, wood spice and further tannic pressure in that way. All in Barbaresco with Treiso curiosity and charm in spite of how much happens to be going on. Will live a good decade or more, and beyond. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Ada Nada Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Cichin 2019, Treiso

As rises Treiso, so goes Treiso rising. A high tonality mixed with grace and charm like no other village for nebbiolo that is Barbaresco but here the vivid quality puts nature far ahead of nurture. That and generous wood with its supporting spices and sweet accents. Another fine Riserva for the vintage and one to age for a decade or more. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

Barbaresco 2011

Barbaresco DOCG 2011

Socré Barbaresco DOCG Roncaglie 2011, Barbaresco

Perfectly fine, metered, reasonable, seasoned and measured older Barbaresco, distinctly nebbiolo and recent history tells that the Roncaglie cru will resolve this way. That would be with alcohol warmth intact, a warm vintage feeling of spices and seasoning, a gastronomy of varietal and place that always ends up this way. Why? It may answer “I don’t know, I guess the wind just pushed me this way.” Somewhere down the crazy (Tanaro) River. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2024

Punset Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2011, Neive

Quite mature, quietly refined, confidently advanced and settled nebbiolo as Barbaresco from Neive’s important cru. Basarin was important then as it is now, a place where the long hill is exposed to the south by southeast and receives as much warmth as any in the appellation. That said Punset caught acidity at peak and the wine’s ability for preservation is admirable to exceptional. Keeps fruit alive even while leathery and drying notes gather momentum. There is great pleasure in sipping this 2011 (incidentally not qualified as Riserva) today. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2024

Grasso Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2011, Treiso

No 2011 Barbaresco could be darker of hue or fresher of fruit than this Vallegrande cru by Grasso out of Treiso commune. That said it has been poured from magnum and once again we are wine-splained just how much of a difference longevity is affected by large format bottles. Sure the perfumes are showing maturity but time has been kind because of the receptacle size. A massively woody nebbiolo and so the aromas and flavours are all pooling with soy, varnish, chocolate and plum pudding spicing. This is very drinkable now but will soon begin to tip in a direction which will have little or nothing to do wth fruit. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2024

Barbaresco Riserva 2009

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2009

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2009, Barbaresco

Now coming into Riserva from Barbaresco in its 15th season post vintage and who can forget the beauty of the 9s, from those that came before and also that which followed. This includes 2009, a season “made by God” as one or more producers were want to say. Of fruit so pure and free that time has been kind to preserve. Though quite sharp and tart at this stage it is with thanks to great acidity that this can show so fine and shine this bright as it does. A top echelon food wine for an older vintage that reeks, tastes and acts as only nebbiolo can be. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2024

Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Santo Stefano Albesani 2009, Neive

Badly oxidized and fallen off the cliff. Hopefully there are better bottles of ’09 out there. Tasted January 2024

Adriano Marco e Vittorio Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Basarin 2009, Neive

Quietly mature and in a lovely state of nebbiolo being, cautiously complex, gently stirring emotion, a reserved and demure Barbaresco that only wishes calm and comfort. While aromas are a whisper and flavours are tacitly generous it is the unspoken in this Basarin that turns up the volume. Hard to find better in low and slow development with lingering tannin than what this 2009 by Adriano Marco e Vittorio has accomplished. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2024

Sarotto Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2009, Neive

Fine aging, proper advancement, pretty much expectation met for a 14-15 year-old Barbaresco as Riserva. That said this would have been and very much still is a wine of much barrel, now all about resins and splinters with fruit faded well to black. Curious as an older wine though past the point of joy. Tasted January 2024

Good to go!

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Barbaresco 2021

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WineAlign

Nebbiolo Previews: Barbaresco DOCG 2020 and Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2018

Sep6

Nebbiolo Prima 2023

What’s in a vintage? If we are talking about 2020 Barbaresco there is so much to say because these are a group of nebbiolo that meet at the crossroads of variability, complexity, multiplicity and whimsy. At their finest the ’20s are a textural bunch, suave and sensorial because of high levels of glycerol and unctuousness. If there is density it’s of an elastic, chewy, often leathery and pliable kind. Many examples reach levels that heighten awareness and elicit deeper understanding of what it means to be Barbaresco. The best are the sort that exhibit experience, acumen, stage presence and when appropriate, also ambition. Top end Barbaresco are varietal distillate expressions of cru, soil, vintage and maker. Wines that finish with dignified tannins, often sweet ones that carry forward from nearly identical vintage acidities. Anyone will tell you that nebbiolo of this world are marked from the get-out, before they are bottled. Not all the 2020 Barbaresco can be credited as being exceptional but there are many worthy of kind and even reverential praise.

While it is said that as a rule the wines of Barbaresco drink earlier than those of Barolo, the fact of the matter is they are bottled earlier and a more recent vintage is presented at each anteprima. It must also be explained that Barolo’s tannins are never sneaky, more like in your face but those from Barbaresco can lurk beneath the surface, pounce when you least expect them and in some cases create nebbiolo of longevity that rival Barolo. This is one of the fascinations about Barbaresco, especially when tasted blind and young, because a taster is made to concentrate, focus and try to determine if there may just be wily structure laid in hiding inside the fortifications of a wine. Barbaresco is so often a crafty and cunning example of nebbiolo worthy of decades of time in the cellar.

Barbaresco is so many things. A village, commune and also a set of wines made from nebbiolo grown on the right bank of the Tanaro River, southeast of Alba. The eponymous village is joined by three others, they being Neive and Treiso, plus San Rocco Seno d’Elvio, an outlying district of Alba. In geological terms, the Barbaresco wine growing area is approximately 23 to 5.3 million years old, belonging to the Miocene Epoch of the Tertiary Period. A drone’s view might say the area resembles a horse’s head, or more appropriately a cluster of nebbiolo grapes. In 2020 vine space increased to 783 hectares and for the first time production exceeded five million bottles (5,128,920).

If seeking Barbaresco cru from 2020 with a plan to hold and then drink well five through 15 years forward is the intended search, well then this Grand Crus like Asili, Rabajà and Martinenga will fulfil those hopes and dreams

There can often be depth to nebbiolo of no particular cru affiliation, a.k.a nessuna menzione but also those composed of fruit taken off of several vineyard sources, or what are called più comuni. The communes of Neive, Barbaresco, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d’Elvio each produce different styles of nebbiolo but one thing is certain. Barbaresco wines as a whole are more identifiable than those from Barolo, mainly because the hectarage and diversity of soils are much smaller by comparison. Barbaresco are not younger siblings and while they are cousins they are the cool, hip, intriguing ones full of interest, fantasy and meaning. As for the crus (referred to in the Langhe as menzione), yes there are in fact those considered Grand. The ridge that includes Asili, Rabajà and Martinenga receive the greatest respect. These sites along with Neive’s Santo Stefano and Treiso’s Pajorè are considered the finest vineyards anywhere in the the entirety of the Barbaresco DOCG. For Barbaresco commune the top menzioni have been classified as Pajè, Pora, Asili, Martinenga, Montefico, Montestefano, Muncagota, Rabajà, Rio Sordo, Roncagliette and Secondine. Then there are Albesani, Basarin, Currá, Cottá, Gallina, Santo Stefano and Serraboella from Neive. Out of Treiso the higher mentions have been Bernardot, Bricco di Treiso, Pajorè, Rombone and Vallegrande. For San Rocco Seno d’Elvio; Meruzzano, Montersino, Rizzi (all these are shared with Treiso) and Rocche Massalupo.

Barbaresco and the Langhe

This 27th edition of Nebbiolo Prima took place in Alba back in January of 2023, with thanks to Albeisa and the organization’s President Marina Marcarino, along with Anna Barbon and Linda Foltran of AB Comunicazione. These 2020 Barbarescos are now showing up in the Canadian market and will continue to do so through the early months of 2024. Once again a reminder that not all producers participate in Nebbiolo Prima, for a myriad of reasons and so consider this report as a relevant snapshot of those that did. These 77 tasting notes, which include some older vintages poured that week, tell a vintage story, or at least Godello’s interpretation of it.

Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Alba

Masseria Di Delmonte Pierina Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2020

Surely top of the pops and tip of the pips ripe fruit, some dry to leathery plum and cedar noes, a mature perfume all in all. Rescued by quality acids and a silky texture. Easy access all the way through with dignified tannins. Early drinking 2020 is the call, perhaps a factor of Montesino’s particular Alba exposure. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted January 2023

Adriano Marco E Vittorio Sanadaive Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Reticent, compact, a bit hard to get. Also some proper nebbiolo volatility straight away. Surprising considering the villages-level cuvée though there is a good chance the fruit source is primarily from one block in a cru. A bit boozy feeling as well and then a repeat on the palate of what the aromas originally dictated. That being taut, weighty and non-disclosed agreements. There is depth to this nebbiolo of nessuna menzione and a year or so will likely release what’s base, right and necessary. Drink 2024-2026. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Manera Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Rizzi 2020

Good brightness and specificity of place through quick-ish reveal, that being Rizzi from the commune of Alba and a nebbiolo that scents as one would 100 per cent expect. Rose petals, sweetly perfumed, almost candied and expressive, surprisingly early it should be noted. Full and generous palate, tons of fruit without fail or need of hasty retreat, therefore lingering and satisfying. Tannins are sweet as well, acids too. Fine wine though not for long term aging. Drink 2023-2027. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Barbaresco

Giordano Luigi Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Asili 2020

A bit more seriousness here from nebbiolo out of the Asili cru in the commune of Barbaresco. Far from draughty in fact this is a closed, hermetic and locked in environment where the perfumes and volatile compounds swirl in centrifuge. A wine of equally formidable and important structure, tannins persistent, semi-austere and very much in charge of the show. If seeking Barbaresco cru from 2020 with a plan to hold and then drink well five through 15 years forward is the intended search, well then this Asili will fulfil those hopes and dreams. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted January 2023

Giordano Luigi Giuseppe Barbaresco Cavanna 2020

From Cavanna in the commune of Barbaresco and a lithe nebbiolo, quite tisane styled aromas, from Ceylon to Rooibos, in other words also equipped with the kind of tannins that feel seeped as opposed to buffering. An easy and rustic example to be fair, traditional yet accessible, one that won’t solicit suffering and ready as early as you choose. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted January 2023

Culasso Piercarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset 2020

Faset delivers a higher tonality, not necessarily a brighter iteration but instead the kind of aromatic profile that heightens awareness and also sensation. Move quickly into the textural and structural parts and there is more of the same elevated feels, of unctuousness and glycerol, silky liquidity and organza layering. Here drinks a fine, moving and vintage appropriate nebbiolo, finely tannic, never dense or weighty, always on the upswing. Would wait a couple of years to see the grains melt further and really tie the room together. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted January 2023

Culasso Piercarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset Duesoli 2020

Different sort of aromatic profile here from Faset in Barbaresco, an almost gummy to plum-stick profile from start to finish. There is this disparate feeling ascertained, from sweet aromatics through to grainy tannins and a tacky profile in between. Nothing totally wrong and yet nothing quite right. Dries out at the finish and those tannins are all that remain. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Chiarlo Michele Barbaresco DOCG Faset 2020

Strong mocker aromas straight off the dense top of this Faset Barbaresco, fulsome, cumbersome and like a heavy cloud looming overhead. Quite a macerated plum note, not sweetly cloying but rather savoury, heady and weighty. Serious wine fully pressed, extracted and pulled from itself, dragging all the weight of the world while it carries this magnitude of fruit and tannin. Seems to seek the modern but can’t help bring all the rusticity and traditional ways along for the ride. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi Di Gresy Barbaresco DOCG Martinenga 2020

Perfectly, beautifully and candidly simple but lithe, ripe, really elegant nebbiolo. Perfumes are intoxicants. Well-rounded and surprisingly easy to access. Drink 2024-2029. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Cascina Morassino Di Bianco Roberto Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Reductive as can be with seriously austere tannins and and nearly inaccessible as any Barbaresco 2020 you are likely to encounter. Just a wall of tannin with angular and angry notes, clearly built to age but even the micro-oxygenation of time in bottle under cork won’t happen fast enough. Not before what little fruit there is dies off well ahead of intended schedule. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted January 2023

Giacosa Carlo Di Giacosa Mariagrazia Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Classic and traditional, sweetly rustic and old-school nebbiolo with no real invitation to specificity of place. A cuvée that speaks to a half century of making Barbaresco from these hills by combing fruit from several blocks to speak in a broad local vernacular. Austerity and demand of tannins are just what to expect and a long life where dried herbs, green notes and waning fruit will always be the way. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Giacosa Carlo Di Giacosa Mariagrazia Barbaresco DOCG Montefico 2020

Full attack from a well-grounded cuvée that speaks in modern terms though not without well-pressed fruit dragging all the acids, tannins, elements and minerals along for the ride. A serious chemical compound of complexities await in a nebbiolo of no particularly focused origin. At one crunchy, like trying to bite through stones and then chewy, leathery textures, of liquorice and animal hides. Tannins build and build. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted January 2023

Moccagatta Barbaresco DOCG Bric Balin 2020

Über cherry nebbiolo, suave yet tannic, inviting but admittedly intense. High tonality with some swarthiness though not overt and full fruit glycerin slide across the palate. A Barbaresco of density if the kind that is elastic, snapping back without too much recoil by force. Solid wine, mid to longer aging potential and a truly good example of the vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Castello di Verduno Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Gone for broke, ripe to the nth degree nebbiolo, pressed and excited to show what it’s got. A Barbaresco villages appellative wine, almost a syrupy swirl of perfume, of plums and black cherries, evergreen and mint. Some varnish as well so you can really feel the skin-contact macerate juices swelling and then come the tannins, marching in, connected on a chain, one by one. Barbaresco of command, on the move, attack mode, restless and ruthless. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Morassino di Bianco Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Ovello 2020

A pinpointed Barbaresco with fruit selected from the Ovello cru, taut and closed nose, of strong grip and while this youthful it is yet to relent. One taste and you know this is a serious glass of nebbiolo because the integration or rather the seamlessness of fruit and structure is so readily apparent. Strong tannic presence yet one that lifts, supports and holds up the whole so that it may walk a fine linear path and that should last for a decade or more. Impressive wine, far too youthful to fully appreciate but the beauty lays ahead. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted January 2023

Musso di Musso Emanuele Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Fine Nebbiolo swirl of perfumed floral fruit here from the Pora MGA, surely indicative of vintage from which attempting less will ultimately add to more. Hard not to imagine 2020 as sharing some affinity with 2000, misunderstood in youth and then exhibiting greatness 10-plus years into its tenure. This just strikes as one of those wines, chewy enough of texture while perfectly taut and elastic, bending but never breaking. Would really like to see this wine in 10 years time. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Really light and effusive 2020 Nebbiolo, fine floral scents, white roses in a way and a mildly tart push of raspberry. Pretty and elegant wine at first but their is a silkiness to the mouthfeel, albeit once again on the faint and lithe side of Barbaresco. There are tannins however and a notable cask component. It’s a tricky wine, sneaky even and may flesh out to bigger surprises down the road. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January 2023

Musso di Musso Emanuele Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Curious if enticing nose of nebbiolo, spiced to the nines with the wood playing an integral part of development. From the Rio Sordo cru in Barbaresco commune and the more you nose this 2020 the more you will receive. Plenty off fleshy berry to plum fruit and more spice, if also spiciness that really directs the way this drinks. A modern wine with more than ample tannins. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted January 2023

Poderi Colla Barbaresco DOCG 2020

A fulsome nebbiolo is all respects from Roncaglie in Barbaresco, open and ready to be expressive of a vintage that may be on the lighter side but shows no lack of typically deduced tradition. Would never go so far as to call this a modern nebbiolo but it surely would like to announce its arrival in the olfactory and also on your palate. So much to go on with a nebbiolo of this ilk and structurally speaking the first four to six years will be the best. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Albino Rocca Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Full attack if somewhat closed and unforgiving in Barbaresco indicative of the Ronchi cru. An aromatic front of more breadth than most out of 2020 with well-pressed and macerated fruit, a gentle swarthiness and then more acidity and tannin above all else aboard the weighty palate. The fruit is a party in the front while the tannins are long-haired and wispy in the back. Out of fashion nebbiolo, earthy and rustic despite all that up front fruit. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Neive

Antichi Poderi dei Gallina di Francone Marco Barbaresco DOCG Albesani 2020

Darker than most as far as 2020 nebbiolo go, a concern of place which is Albesani cru in Neive and the decision to press form success. Boozy nose it feels, yet elemental too, like smelling metal filaments, magnesium and iron mainly. Perhaps a ferric soil, redder earth than some other hills and so the wine is an expression of place after all. Quality Barbaresco in any case, balanced and truthful, exacting as needs to be from the location it was born. Kudos for that and with tannins in effect though never overbearing in any shape or form. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2023

Castello di Neive Barbaresco DOCG Vigna Santo Stefano Albesani 2020

The second of two Albesani cru nebbioli is nearly an exact copy of the first, dark of fruit though here in black cherry that is really quite an obvious aromatic fruit expression. Smoother and silkier than its counterpart yet with much higher acidity and not quite as suave tannin. More energy and drive this time while less elegance defining the character of the wine. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Adriano Marco e Vittorio Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2020

Wealth of constituent parts emit with haste, gregariousness and also attentive demand from this Basarin. ’Tis a wine that stands and opens up to be heard but also paid immediate attention. Carries some volatility in its voice and while there is fruit but also tension there may be no getting rid of that high and mighty tonality. Plenty of herbal earthiness, strong bones and drying at the finish. Drink 2025-2028. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Vecchie Viti Basarin 2020

Lighter style or perhaps a hands-off, naturally leaning, let it ride approach by a winemaker wishing to seek purity, honesty and cru definability. This from Basarin is beautifully elegant and proper nebbiolo that should never be referred to as “light.” The aromatics are equally handsome while the wine flexes muscles and is yet nimble, agile and sleek. A fine specimen in all regards with a knowable and confident glide. Complex and characterful without needing to attract attention. Lovely wine. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted January 2023

Fontanabianca Barbaresco DOCG Bordini 2020

Nebbiolo from Bordini cru is hard and brittle, tannins that is with simple fruit that will never keep up with the demand. Already drying out as we taste and speak about the prospects. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted January 2023.

Cascina Vano di Rivetti Bruno Barbaresco DOCG 2020 Canova

Intensity of acidity and tannin supersede the fruit in this Canova cru nebbiolo. Earthy and dry though there is some charm. Tart and really compact so give it three to four years. Perhaps it will open like a flower. Perhaps not. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Saria Di Abbruzzo Francesco Barbaresco DOCG Colle Del Gelso Canova 2020

Early earthy, volatile and syrupy from the aromatics all glycerin inflected with soy, wood and baking spice. Hard tannins and a wave off vanilla mark this wine of barrel and more barrel. Drink 2024-2026. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Albino Rocca Barbaresco DOCG Cotta’ 2020

The cru Cottà delivers a fine and typical Nebbiolo from 2020 with fruity aromas and good vocal acidity. Chewy red fruit in tart raspberry meets somewhat dusty plum make this getable yet not overly excitable. A crunchy mineral example that is notably tannic but five years should solve all issues and see this drink with Barbaresco excellence. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted January 2023

Taverna Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Senteùndes Cotta’ 2020

Quite up front, gone for it nebbiolo, fruit spent before it’s even entered the glass and tannins hard, brittle, not so very inviting. Notable presence of Brettanomyces. Aromas and flavours are all wood. Tasted January 2023

Roberto Sarotto di Cavallotto Aurora Barbaresco DOCG Gaia Principe 2020

So much of everything off the top, fruit, glycerin and tannin coming from all directions. This is a nebiolo predicated on elévage that much is abundantly clear with a wave of vanilla that speaks louder than varietal words or the Gaia Principe location. Needs time and there is some fleshy-pulpy substance to see this Neive commune nebbiolo gain some status. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted January 2023

Negro Giuseppe di Negro Piergiorgio Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2020

Fine lines define this linear and upright Gallina cru nebbiolo of all parts registered to play a significant role through a long life of development. Plenty of fruit substance will hold well while the structure abates and abides as it manages a pact with the aforementioned fruit. Really solid Neive Barbaresco that will gain traction slowly and surely over ten years time. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted January 2023

Poderi e Cantine Oddero Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2020

Some formaggi on the nose of this nebbiolo and a strong tannic presence for a Gallina that’s not showing much love in these beginning stages. Lots of acidity and intensity but really quite rustic and this will not change. Time is the matter and there may just be some beauty behind the brawn Drink 2025-2029. Tasted January 2023

Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco DOCG Cascina Crosa 2020

Fruity, elegant and simple though as always there is a string of strong tannins matched by a tonic and bitter presence. Dusty and earthy nebbiolo, nothing truly specified in terms of cru or location and carrying the overall feel of a traditional wine. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted January 2023

Bera Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2020

High-toned, of red fruit and notable tang, somewhat sour gummy and though it looks to be light there is a strong presence of barrel on this nebbiolo. Tannins creep up quite quickly and though they are demanding there is an accord struck in a composite to complimentary village level way. Quite a solid Neive example. Drink 2024-2028. Barrel sample tasted January 2023

Cordara Ornella Barbaresco DOCG Tufo Blù 2020

Reductive and also acetic, with capers and dill, wood spice and hopeful red berry fruit. Liquid chalky and tannic but the minor faults add up to major distraction. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted January 2023

Taverna Roberto Barbaresco DOCG Duicrü 2020

Major amount of shoe polish and strange varnish notes indicate a problematic wine. Hopefully just this bottle but there is not much recourse in a blind tasting. Drink 2024. Tasted January 2023

Pietro Rinaldi Barbaresco DOCG San Cristoforo 2020

Acetic and reductive off the top, not egregiously so but these elements are there. More of the latter so giving this nebbiolo a fair agitate swirl to reveal some quality fruit behind the swarthy veil. Dark black cherry and the stone, a definite mineral presence and hard tannins come up the rear for this cru example out of Neive’s San Cristoforo. Tough and gritty wine needing time, a whole lot of precious time. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted January 2023

Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco DOCG Bricco San Giuliano 2020

From San Giuliano in Neive and a nebbiolo of darker red fruit though quite effusive to nose. Good aromatic profile from which violets and also blue fruits join the mix. These are quality tannins as well as acidity which is well matched to the overall profile. Will benefit from a year or so in bottle to soften the edges, integrate the oxygenating cask workings and bring all the parts together. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted January 2023

Fontanabianca Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2020

More than enticing Serraboella aromatics emit and grab attention for a nebbiolo that’s worth knowing. Glycerin all the way through though never drifting into sap, resin or syrup. All three in faint hints are fine and their mentions are in this Neive’s character but yes, subtlety is the name of the game. A fine floral addendum and then proper mouthfeel while tannins are stronger than might have been anticipated. A most commanding wine with stage presence and a great idea of what it desires but also choose to become. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted January 2023

Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2020

Some reductive and stemmy behaviour. Lively and lovely Serraboella aromatics fly out of the glass from this nebbiolo to create great anticipation for what else is to come. Seems and feels like a wine of experience, acumen and proper ambition. Just what the doctor orders in healthy, clean living by fruit that’s been raised in all the right ways. Pure varietal distillate that expresses cru, soil, vintage and maker with equal, four part-symbiotic stability and equal footing for all. Top, top Barbaresco for the vintage. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted January 2023

Collina Serragrilli Barbaresco DOCG Starderi 2020

Quite classic, rustic earthy and yet vintage fruity so in the end we’d expect this to land somewhere in between. Tart red fruit and fine acidity – a lighting strike kind of nebbiolo that should indicate lighter white or grey clay and fine sandy quality of soil. High in mineral as well. Starderi? Really tight and compact wine, far from generous and some might see it as tenebrous. Seems proper and honest from this point of view. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted January 2023

Treiso

Cantina del Nebbiolo Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Stems and a volatility define the first impression for a Barbaresco that draws fruit from at least two communes. Somewhat simple and rounded with the least demanding tannins around. Think of nebbiolo and while it qualifies as Barbaresco the wine should be consumed in its first two years. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted January 2023

Masseria di Delmonte Pierina Barbaresco DOCG Mon Sertù 2020

From a few commune’s fruit and a well rounded nebbiolo at that with stuffing in a most generous sort of way. Some sap and glycerin though not overt and all is manageable for quality consumption. Does well to speak on behalf of Barbaresco with distinction if not a pinpointed sense of a particular block or cru. Which is fine when a wine does everything well. Represents as a great intro to the appellation and the vintage. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2023

Socré Barbaresco DOCG 2020

Slightly jammy and also acetic notes, some reduction as well in a broadly accumulated, rendered and interpreted nebbiolo for Barbaresco. Tart and full of tang, drying out already and needing some air. Hard tannins make this somewhat problematic. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Molino Barbaresco DOCG Ausario 2020

Ausario as a cru seems to be a place of solar accumulation as noted by the massive fruit substance emanating from this full on nebbiolo. So much up front but also a liquid chalkiness and definite vanilla swirl by wood with the intention to create a structure wine. A bit too much of these things I’m afraid yet time will see good integration and when the wine settles in it will drink well indeed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2023

Nada Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Casot 2020

Casot delivers fine goods in 2020 from its Treiso cru with a nebbiolo in fine form and especially fashion. The trilogy and trinity of fruit, acid and tannin get on the same page, linear of design, one following the other and then returning back to begin the process over again. Seems to do this on repeat several times before retiring so not only are the parts full of character but their familiarity with one another breeds consistency and length. Fine Casot from a Casot vintage indeed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Alberta Barbaresco DOCG Giacone 2020

An upfront, centred and look at me Giacone full of fruit and more fruit. Carries on with Treiso familiarity and quality to deliver a Barbaresco of the times, heady and high-toned. Lots to go on here and tannins quite grippy but there is always some brightness and airiness to this nebbiolo. Crafty if older schooled but that luminosity is quite something. Hard to believe considering the structure of the wine. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January 2023

Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Marcarini 2020

Marcarini cru brings some baritone to nebbiolo for 2020 and this example expresses the depths of its varietal fruit. Chewy liquorice is indicative of the tannins involved but the fruit keeps pace. Nothing limpid or softy about this one at all in fact it’s grip is both admired and feared. Chewy and it would be hard not to see the great probability for longevity out of this formidable Nebbiolo. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted January 2023

Nada Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Marcarini 2020

The second of two Marcarini shares some affinities with the first but they are far from the same wine. This time the combination of swarthiness and swaying texture are at the fore. Definitely not the formidable brood of its counterpart though it does share in the other’s chewy fruit thickened on the palate. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Nervo 2020

Nervo delivers a lighter style of nebbiolo for Treiso out of a variable 2020 vintage. That is aromatically speaking and yet the palate is very much a matter of glycerol fruit. Thickens with pectin and therefore both sweetens and fleshes as it airs to receive equally sweet acids and then tannin in the end. There is a bit of vanilla and wood derived elements that distract but overall the quality inherent in this Nervo is impressive. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January 2023

Molino Barbaresco DOCG Teorema 2020

Basic Treiso nebbiolo without cru affiliation brings accessibility and what we call drink-ability without strings attached. Sweet fruit, raspberry and cherry, good quality tannins and brightness of acidity. A Barbaresco to drink soon and in a the most amenable of ways for three to five years. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2023

Lodali Walter Barbaresco DOCG Rocche Dei 7 Fratelli 2020

Somewhat reductive and so a bit unclear as to where this will go though some beauty is noted on this nebbiolo’s immediate horizon. That and notably grippy tannins so as far as Barbaresco is concerned there must be food involved to truly enjoy this wine. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Bosio Family Estates Belcolle Barbaresco DOCG Pajorè 2020

Light and effusive Pajorè with plenty of pre-introduced oxygenation to make this an open, airy and knowable nebbiolo that surely does well to represent the vintage. A Treiso Barbaresco of quality raised by acumen and on promises for a long and prosperous life. Fine liquidity and stage presence, confidence and what is necessary for grape and place. Tannins are quite fine as well to equip this wine with what in needed, wanted and expected. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted January 2023

Piazzo comm. Armando di Piazzo Marina Barbaresco DOCG Pajorè 2020

Consistently Pajorè in that the upront fruit is the sort of purity and existential lightness though this iteration is a bit more pressed and of a depth as compared to some counterparts. Results in moCascina Vano di Rivetti re flesh and substantial palate presence but also an increase in tannic pressure. More ambition here with cask aging and spices running amok distracts from the purity though the wine is still really quite impressive. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted January 2023

Ada Nada Barbaresco DOCG Elisa Rombone 2020

The first of two from Rombone cru is somewhat reductive and though there is some acetic presence it’s far from over the top. Tart and intense nebbiolo for sure, cool of mint and evergreen. Savoury wine which speaks to the acetic nature though it feels like a coming together will happen and lower the glare. Time will be this nebbiolo’s friend. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted January 2023

Vigneti Luigi Oddero e Figli Barbaresco DOCG Rombone 2020

The second of two from Rombone is the lighter and less aggressive with higher and airy tonality which speaks to this Treiso cru’s DNA. While the other is expressed in a slight acetic way this does not and in fact a settling already seems to have occurred. Liking the parochial nature and the way it just seems so comfortable in its own skin. No lack of intensity here and longevity will surely be probable. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted January 2023

Ada Nada Barbaresco DOCG Valeriano 2020

Soupy or stewed character while also a bit thin and dilute. Quite a simple nebbiolo. Tasted January 2023

Grasso Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2020

Fine nebbiolo here from Villagrande with all the fruit and structure up front and no real skeletal backbone to hold up for long. Enjoy this early while so many others take there time to flesh and settle. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted January 2023

Ca’ Del Baio di Grasso Giulio Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2020

As for this second of two Vallegrande there is more compaction and tannin mixed with fruit from the very beginning. Also a thickening and a pectin influence to give a strawberry and raspberry confection though one with plenty of savour in the mix. Chalky as well, a lactic feeling and then those tannins of great grip and drying force. This nebbiolo needs years of time to resolve. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted January 2023

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2018

Manera Fratelli Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Rizzi 2018

Indicative of vintage, hot and steamy, a now drying nebbiolo of Rizzi origin so very intense on the nose. Quite mature and evolving with great haste. Sappy and to say this offers effusive enjoyment would be the opposite of what’s really going on. Hard times. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted January 2023

Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Martinenga 2018

Fine nebbiolo aromatics from ’18 Riserva with thanks to Martinegra and a wine that was shown some restraint throughout its early voracious appetitive exercise. Strong tannic presence no doubt while the fruit source turns into ever-fleshing substance. Chewy on the palate and really persistent so ultimately this represents a fine Riserva and likely one of the finer examples to come out of 2018. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted January 2023

Socré Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Roncaglie 2018

From the cru of Roncaglie and a nebbiolo as Barbaresco, from Barbaresco with as many issues as it displays beauty because the lactic tang is equal to the fulsome fruit. A thick and swarthy example that’s both traditional (well, actually antediluvian) and naturally avant-garde at the same time. My goodness what a mess and clash of personalities. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Albesani 2018

High fruit concentration and substantial nebbiolo so apposite to the other ’18 Riservas in this flight and clearly happy to be this way. Carries enough weight and tannin to not only impress but allow the wine to drink well over the coming five too eight years time. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted January 2023

Giacosa Fratelli Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Basarin Vigna Gianmate’ 2018

Still a touch reductive and restrained with unyielding tannin in a nebbiolo that will require another two or three years to drink as it was surely intended to do. Plenty of flesh hangs on these bones so expect Basarin to win in the end. Serious wine, surely a matter of heat by vintage but there will be comfort before too long. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted January 2023

Punset di Marcarino Marina & C. Barbaresco Riserva DOCG San Cristoforo Campo Quadro 2018

Lightest, most transparent and glaringly beautiful of the Barbaresco Riserva with a maturing quality at this stage. Sweetly lactic note, fruit of the brighest reds while settling in because tannins are drying yet of nary a moment that might be considered austere or abrasive. Seriously well made, vintage indicative and in the end, drink up. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted January 2023

Bera Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2019

The western cru close to Neive village, exposition to the west, from the lower section at 350m. Planted 15 years ago with the intention to make classic “Villages” Barbaresco but the fruit from 2016 changed the family’s perspective. That vintage was the first cru label and here from the fourth consecutive the refinement time is 24 months in grandi botti, part Slovenian and part Austrian oak. Tannic to be sure yet not quite what you’d call austere. Greatly structured wine and still far from readiness. “That’s the young baby we’re talking about,” says Riccardo. “It’s the cru that surprises me.” Great aromatic presence and fine chalky liquidity running through. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Vano di Rivetti Bruno Barbaresco DOCG 2019 Canova

“Traditional” vinification for this Neive nebbiolo and put to Grandi Botti (300L size) for two years. Very traditional Barbaresco, quietly aromatic of pretty perfume and in 2019 a lovely, elegant wine. Proof that Vano’s needs an extra year to settle its harder parts and while ’19 remains or persists as tannic they are strong and elastic ones that will continue to effect a positive stance on this Canova. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted January 2023

Culasso Piercarlo Barbaresco DOCG Faset Duesoli 2019

Warmer of Faset’s two parcels on its western flank, southeast exposure at the hill’s base. Top notch red fruit with a unique game swarthiness and so much personality swelling into complexity. Nothing shy or demure here and clearly a vintage that sweats out the eccentricities of Duesoli. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted January 2023

Cerrino Barbaresco DOCG 2019

Cerrino is found in Trezzo Tinella close to Treiso which is the commune for this nebbiolo’s fruit. More specifically Meruzzano though the vru won’t show up on the label until the 2021 vintage. From 450m of elevation for a Barbaresdco of somewhat stewed black cherry and stone, balsamic edginess, quality acid and tannin. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted January 2023

Paitin Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Paitin Serraboella 2019

A Barbaresco of soft extraction at 24-26 degrees celsius, some cappello sommerso submerged cap workings, “when we feel we can,” says Luca Pasquero Elia. Aways scarico, meaning the unwanted elements are always left behind to result in a transparent nebbiolo without intensity of colour. “We want to keep the integrity of the skins, as much as possible,” to restrict oxygenation and racking is done only when necessary. Goes to bottle “after the second phase of closure.” Paitin in Barbaresco is a matter of objective over style. Serraboella is most always wanting to be expressive but this 2019 actually is, at least aromatically, of bright red fruit but be reminded how converse this is against the quality of tension in the tannins. Not a nebbiolo of glycerin despite the cappello sommerso‘s effects, because of the combination of two things. Reasonable alcohol and wild yeast strains that don’t induce such texture. The elasticity and balance in this ’19 Serraboella are just exemplary and the elegant notes play early, which is kind of unprecedented. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted January 2023

Cerrino Barbaresco DOCG 2018

From Treiso and what will eventually become a cru (Merazzano) labeled Barbaresco. For now it is a super correct and fine example for nebbiolo and the vintage, 25 day fermentation to coax out a gentility. The season was cooler than 2019 and the resulting wine more balanced, elegant and lovely in its held persistence. Right in the vintage window as we speak. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted January 2023

Cantina Del Pino Barbaresco DOCG Ovello 2017

The 2017 is part of a life’s work and now legacy defining Barbaresco by Renatto Vacca of Cantina del Pino who three years ago was lost to the nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Piedmontese and Italian world, but most of all to his adoring family. For now and wishfully forever there is Aldo Vacca of Produttori del Barbaresco who will not just transition but consult in perpetuity to this great estate. In the meantime Renatto’s 2017 Ovello from the Grand Cru vineyard overlooking the Tanaro River is sumptuous, silken textured, fruit maximized and elegance incarnate. Easy to be romantic in this situation but also wistful and somber – yet the wine speaks so clearly and emphatically it’s all that matters at this very moment. These are complete, distinct and forward carrying tannins to take Ovello ’19 deep into this and well further through the next decade. Solo cose belle Cantina del Pino. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted January 2023

Cascina Vano Di Rivetti Bruno Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Pilone Nei Rivetti 2016

From heavy clay soil abutting the hill of Serraboella. Big shouldered nebbiolo, broad and muscular, ancient warrior of Barbaresco. Still expressly tannic after all this time, having spent three years in Botti and another in bottle. Traditional though quite fine and needing two more years to integrate. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted January 2023

Bera Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Rabajà 2015

Rabajà faces southwest and this fruit comes right from the heart, only bottled as Riserva. Vines in and around 40 years of age and three years spent in Grandi Botti. Aromatically you intuit glycerin and as a Barbaresco there is clearly more acumen and experience from plants that first gave this wine life out of the 2011 vintage. Tannins are even more compact than Seraboella, trying to expand but they just keep weighing down and won’t fully relent. Layering of red fruit and they are beautiful layers but each one carries tannin of ilk upon ilk. This is Barbaresco of sapidity as a quotient of acids and pH working in cohorts. The palate attack is quite fantastical. Give this another year. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted January 2023

Paitin Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Paitin Serraboella 2013

Plenty of breezes blow through this vineyard that is easier to farm with far less disease pressure than many. Also one of the first to ripen in the whole of Barbaresco. Allows for more maneuverability to create verticality and the winemaking can encourage some of this style – though form and objective are always the most important matters. The 2013 still shows as a linear nebbiolo with tension unabated while the once austere elements are finally subsiding. Yet it is still a baby, a 14 percent Barbaresco built for longe range aging from fruit drawn off of the steepest part on the long ridge of the Serraboella hill. Sandy soils on the southeastern slope with surrounding woods all conspire to create this slow-evolving, cru-designate wine with ample fruit, structure and trenchant abilities. A marker for Neive. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted January 2023

Bera Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Basarin 2012

Basarin is home to much older vines, upwards of 65 years-old and is one of the steepest vineyards in Barbaresco. A snake of a vineyard and very challenging to work. South exposure, warm for sure and a soil composition higher in chalk than clay but not too dissimilar to Rabajà. Herbaceous notes come from Basarin and “when I was young, every time I went to the tank I had this feeling,” tells Riccardo Bera. The first vintage out of which the tannins are nearly resolved and yet the fruit persists in near whole and perfect freshness. A nebbiolo in wonderful condition and while the vintage was hot there might have been a different result. This is almost, not quite but nearly ready, as far as optimum or perfect windows are concerned. Liquorice here, a touch of tar and well, “most of this job for us is to start with the best grapes you can. The quality is in the vineyard. A good winemaker can keep the 10. A five you cannot fix.” Ten it is. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted January 2023

Good to go!

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Nebbiolo Prima 2023

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WineAlign

Barbaresco DOCG previews and retrospectives: 2017, Riserva 2015, 2007 and 2005

Jun15

Flying in to Pi-e-mon-te

Nebbiolo Prima is a wine tasting and immersive concern of impossible equal. The twenty-fourth edition took place in Alba during the latter stages of January 2020, the last innocent period of Piemonte’s recent history and the memories ingrained will last a lifetime. How retrospectively insignificant were the stressors incurred through tasting 300 wines blind over three days plus hundreds more with producers at lunches, dinners and visits? How happy, carefree and miles from non-plussed were the journalists, sommeliers and their Albeisa hosts during a week of connectivity and shared motivations? Less than one month later everything had changed.

Marina Marcarino introduces Nebbiolo Prima 2020

Tutto arriva al momento stabilito, “everything comes at its appointed time.” War, peace, pandemic, recovery. Piemonte has been particularly compromised by COVID-19 and it just seems so unfair but the Piedmontese back down from nothing and move ahead no matter the obstacles. The work ethic never tires, nor do fruit and tannin. There are a thousand wine producers who raised estates out of post-war, mezzadrie ashes to put Barbaresco, Roero and Barolo at the forefront of Italian wine. This generation will do the same beginning in 2020. Piemonte does just about everything well and for so many tangible reasons, everything right. The clash of cultures, detailed attention to seductive and gratifying food particularities and impossible to resist, covetable wines from Langhe and Roero origins add up to one of Italy’s finest destinations. Eating and drinking in Piemonte is one of life’s greatest treats and I’ve not yet even mentioned the word nebbiolo. Life and winemaking are all about the pauses, where art resides in the elusive calm between Barbaresco fruit and tannin.

It had been a most incredible Nebbiolo Prima 2020 week with gratitude and love to the guidance and effort of the the Albeisa organization’s President, Domaine Punset’s Marina Marcarino. Always the first to pioneer, lead, teach and share, Marcarino expressed the pride and the passion of the community of producers that worked tirelessly to create this formidable assembly. Albeisa’s goal is not singularly focused. This event is not simply a matter dedicated to the tasting of wine. Agricultural evolution and wine-producing innovation are a major focus, always with a socio-economic bearing kept in mind. Albeisa’s deans pointed out that there has been a steady decline of the de-classification of grapes and for Barbaresco that has meant a drop from 46 to 23 per cent of bottlers at harvest moving from Barbaresco DOCG and into Langhe Nebbiolo DOC.

Mauro Buonocore

Trusting Science

Most fascinating was a climate change talk titled I Cambiamenti Climatici NEI Media, given by Mauro Buonocore, head of the Communication and Media Office at CMCC Foundation – Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change. Buonocore began with a challenge to journalists, to report truths, based on science. “Why are journalists and the public interested in such complex scientific problems?’ he asks. This is Mauro’s question, his purpose for studying the subject. “Attention paid to climate change makes sense if we do so in relation to socio-economic systems.” He then wants to know “what is the cost for business in a world in which temperature is changing and extreme events like heavy rains and heat waves taking place?”

The study by Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici presents as a focal point for Italy, to “get out of the green ghetto,” insists Buonocore. “Hugging trees is not the only answer.” The starting point is science because science is informative. “It’s a democratic community.” IDCC creates reports by 300 authors, in 20,000 studies, with 100,000 comments. It’s more than enough to satisfy the most skeptical journalist. It’s also a consistently framed initiative that resides at a global level.

Mauro Buonocore, CMCC

2020 Findings

The foundation’s most recent investigations are heavily reporting about extreme weather, a.k.a the new global warming. Climate action is now responsive and mobilizing to act in response to the natural disasters but also losses in biodiversity. Human made environmental tragedies are the single largest crises faced today and more than ever there is a need for collaboration between journalists and scientists. Un”alleanza necessaria, driving scientific research into journalists’ hands, to report on forests, environment and climate change. Wine journalists. The road goes both ways, recoproche risorese, not a one-man band. The intrigue of this study takes journalists and in turn the public away from the idea about what can be done to combat and make adjustments for climate change to a realm defined by placing trust in scientists and scientific thought. A blind trust perhaps but this is the request.

What to make of Barbaresco DOCG 2017

In subsequent articles I will get to what Barolo and Roero have reached in their recent contributions to nebbiolo but today we begin with Barbaresco. Nearly 60 examples of Barbaresco DOCG 2017 were presented, along with 15 Riserva 2015 and a further dozen or so retrospective 2007s. Communes of origin (Alba, Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso) were joined by Cru examples (Montersino, Rocche Massalupo, Asili, Ovello, Pora, Rabaja’, Rio Sordo, Roccalini, Roncaglie, Ronchi, Montaribaldi, Albesani, Basarin, Canova, Cotta’, Gaia-Principe, Gallina, San Cristoforo, San Guiliano, Bricco San Giuliano, Santo Stefano, Senadaive, Serraboella, Serragrilli, Sorì Paitin Serraboella, Starderi, Bricco di Treiso, Casot, Giacone, Marcarini, Meruzzano, Nervo, Nubiola, Pajore’, Rombone, Valeirano and Vallegrande).

Tasting at #nebbioloprima2020 with the Morris, side by each ~ Day one, 120 in

These odd, curious and at times inspiring 2017s are littered with examples that speak to great variability, lined with pockets of hot and bothered micro-climates but also cool spots in spite of the prevailing terms of the vintage. These Barbaresco are wines of patent freedom and some imbibers may think they want in but may not be equipped to handle the liberties they provide. Still others will unite over the untied and untucked nature of the lot. The highlights are nominally noted by nebbiolo quietude that act as breaths of fresh 2017 air. The Riserva of 2015 are at their best when the spice cupboard is wide open for nebbiolo to act aromatically gregarious, volatile and yet unsettled. The best of 2015 have yet to peek out of the open windows.

The task of tasting 360 nebbiolo blind or not in four days would be unthinkable without the guidance and assistance of a professional Sommelier. What is a Sommelier? A Sommelier is completely invisible, yet always in sight. A Sommelier remembers what wine tasters hate. A Sommelier anticipates the taster’s needs before the needs are needed. A Sommelier is, above all, discreet to a fault. In total here are 92 reviews for Barbaresco nebbiolo tasted in Alba, January 2020.

Barbaresco at Hotel I Castelli, Alba

Barbaresco DOCG 2017 (59 reviews)

***** (denotes the top wines of the vintage)

Ada Nada Barbaresco DOCG Valeirano 2017

Sweet and saline Treiso nebbiolo, light and bright, lemon to orange. Quit and confident, the silent type that allows its actions to speak louder than its words. Good tang in its textural step and fine tannins will lead to mid-term aging exceptionality. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2020

Adriano Marco E Vittorio DOCG Barbaresco 2017

Plays hard to get from the outset though there’s a prettiness to the lightness of this nebbiolo’s being. Can be tough when it needs to be and so there is potential here. Will need to wait and see just what becomes of this light, underestimated and yet understood Barbaresco. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted January 2020

Adriano Marco & Vittorio Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2017 ($45.00)

Candied exterior in that the fruit scents are like flowers dipped into a sweetly perfumed liquid that permeates and infiltrated so that everything comes up roses. The palate then dries out a bit so that fruit succumbs to the tannins in the wine. Neive traditional and so plausible. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

Albino Rocca Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2017

Tannic and intense. Decent fruit more or less speaks to varietal obviousness and basic understanding. There’s a comfort level in the rustic charm of the tradition found inherent and fomenting in this Montersino nebbiolo. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted January 2020

Albino Rocca Ronchi Barbaresco DOCG 2017 ($75.75)

Once again a menthol note permeates but here from Ronchi in Barbaresco it is met with notable citrus, namely pomegranate, deep blood orange and also a real cherry-ness. Also very spiced, cinnamon and nutmeg, plus a variegation that comes across as much textural as it had aromatic. A serious wine of great integration and potential more than anything as a quotient of its fineness and deep-rooted complexity. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted January 2020

Alessandro Rivetto Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2017

Ripe and syrupy nebbiolo, simpler than many or even most with fine-grained though negligible tannin. A bit of disconnect between the fruit and the finish, namely because the acidity is not a catalyst or a matchmaker in the Montersino equation. Drink 2021-2023. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa Barbaresco Tettineive DOCG 2017

No cru designate mention (but referred to as Tettineive, “at the head of,” or above the village) and the Neive ubiquity is noted in the swarthy and swarming aromas that speak foremost about ripe fruit. It’s so very raspberry and not so very tannic though the acids are developed and encompassing. Not so complex but a great dinner date companion for the next few years. Drink 2021-2024. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Antichi Poderi Dei Gallina Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2017

Quite bright and very citrus, light blood orange meeting green tannins. Seems like a very cool spot in spite of the ’17 Neive vintage. A tonic injection and a botanical feel make for a unique take on nebbiolo from Gallina. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2020

Bera Barbaresco DOCG Serraboella 2017

Very cherry, very glycerin and also light on its aromatic feet. The scents are spiced and varietally obvious as Neive nebbiolo with a sweetness that speaks to the land. Good structure, even sweeter tannins and very apparent that the barrel is a major part of the game. Needs time and also tells us that if you like sweetness from wood then you should clearly stick around. Drink 2022-2027. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

***** Belcolle Barbaresco DOCG Pajoré 2017

Now we are onto and into something other, ulterior, extraordinary even. The berry and cherry scents are ripe, effusive and frank. The subtleties speak to the knowledge and the knowing. There’s a restraint and a consummate professionalism in such a Treiso Barbaresco but also an accumulation spurred by precision. The real deal, needing no swagger to solicit no adulation. Drink 2023-2035. Tasted January 2020

Gran Bollito alla Piemontese, Ristorante Luna, Sinio

Briccogrilli Battaglio Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Slightly over-developed, heading towards oxidative and not far from raisin. Flat, little acidity and no real potential. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted January 2020

Ca’ Del Baio Barbaresco DOCG 2017

If ever a Barbaresco nebbiolo carried an uncanny aroma that is purely reminiscent of liquorice than this would be the one. Fruit quality is impressive and structure supports with a proper frame,. Nothing overtly complex here but overall the game is played quite well. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted January 2020

Ca’ Del Baio Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2017

Sweet meets savoury for fruit that needs little introduction. So bloody nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Treiso and seemingly, clearly, obviously Vallegrande. Ripe and grippy tannins take control so maybe try and avoid needing to spend too much time here over the next five years. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

***** Cascina Alberta Barbaresco DOCG Giacone 2017

A clear and concise look at Treiso nebbiolo from Barbaresco with tart currant, pomegranate and cherry fruit, tang in pocket and a lovely liquidity. This is the textural one of clarity and precision. Clearly textural, structured and fine. Not overtly tannic and so far from intrusive in terms of what the barrel wants to say. Drink this everyday and for no particular reason. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted January 2020

***** Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Asili 2017

You can tell straight off the top that this Barbaresco-Asili nebbiolo is not begging for attention, nor does it care if you get it or not. The fruit wades and treads easily, comfortable, without any real tension. The acids are delicate and fine, real and necessary. The tannins repeat the yoga mantra. This is a sneaky one, seemingly light and uninterested but time will see flesh, bone and serious intention come to the surface and swim with strength deep into the distance. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted January 2020

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Rabajà 2017

A deep inhalant of hillside brush, red citrus and well-ripened fruit are the three-part harmony sung by this Barbaresco. Simplifies a bit once you realize the heavy bass played by the wood takes over and commands a sweetness but also a simplicity in the structural line. Still there is a quality that just aches with the singsong verse of Rabaja’. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

Cascina Morassino Barbaresco DOCG 2017 ($58.62)

Lovely and complex nebbiolo aromatic profile with crisp bites and red fruit drawn off the right kind of soils for all to take part. One part kind fruit, one part energy building and one part lengthening structure. Adds up to quality Barbaresco and accessibility. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

***** Cascina Morassino Barbaresco DOCG Ovello 2017

Impressive from go with high-toned, pectin-developed and transparent, glycerin fruit. Really fine lines, bones and structurally sound encroachment into the tough areas only such Barbaresco nebbioli can go. Serious Ovello wine with a long life ahead. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted January 2020

Cascina Sarìa Barbaresco DOCG Canova 2017

Quite ripe and developed Neive nebbiolo with an oxidative waft. Will go quickly into the pruned night with so much vanilla by wood in its fading light. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted January 2020

Castello Di Neive Santo Stefano Albesani Barbaresco DOCG 2017 ($51.75)

Fruit is sweet and properly ripened, a touch herbal and tannins take quick stage to cover and draw the curtains. Chewy in a liquorice way and drying though tradition runs like blood through the structure. Solid Neive Barbaresco. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2020

Collina Serragrilli Barbaresco DOCG Serragrilli 2017 ($45.00)

Wildly earthy and aromatic Neive nebbiolo from Serragrilli, a touch overdrawn but still sitting on that ledge. Smells like a scorch of sorts and a light char on wild game. Also brings the hematic aromas that only fresh meat, toasty wood and blood orange can gift. Complex specimen here if just a touch ripe into the beyond. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

***** Cortese Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Rabajà 2017

Sweet scented aromas and a chewy textural aspect make this Barbaresco nebbiolo one of the more impressively expressionistic examples. The substance in grain and disposition are clearly developed and designed to create a gregarious and exhibitionist example. So much Rabajà proposition, supposition and expectation await. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted January 2020

Figli Luigi Oddero Barbaresco DOCG Rombone 2017

Unusually scented Treiso Barbaresco, almost like baking biscuits mingling with cured meats. Quite chalky tannic and earth crusted too. Very nebbiolo, high strung and extended perhaps beyond means but there will be a sweet spot somewhere out there in the mid ages. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted January 2020

***** Figli Luigi Oddero Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2017

Another about face for nebbiolo twists and turns within the variability and variegation found in the Neive Barbaresco from Gallina. Tartness, tang, tannin and even a moment’s tumult make this curious, foreboding and so very interesting. Watch to see where this one goes. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

Grasso Fratelli Barbaresco DOCG Vallegrande 2017

Darker, bloodier and richer than some but also as compared to brethren within the cru. Vallegrande is quite expressive Treiso Barbaresco though this example is clearly driven by the barrel. Vanilla in droves, chocolate not too far behind and tannins thick as thieves. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted January 2020

Icardi Barbaresco DOCG Starderi 2017 ($78.00)

Intensely reductive and closed, even for Neive nebbiolo. There too is a pine resinous note and some charred meeting preserved citrus. Curious and yet to open up its charms. Drink 2022-2026. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Pasta heaven in Alba

Il Bricco Barbaresco DOCG Bricco Di Treiso 2017

The mix of cured meats, wood smoke, spice and wet concrete make for a Treiso nebbiolo with so much bloody character that keeps changing with every nose put into the glass. Brings blood orange and bresaola to the mix. What a potpourri, what a design and what a complication. That all said the tannins are not so firm and not so demanding, More wood and texture than anything else. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

La Ganghija Di Enzo Rapalino Barbaresco DOCG 2017

A touch past ripe and syrupy though with complex aromatic notes, namely preserved citrus and gingered chocolate. A gastronomic Treiso Barbaresco in a dessert course kind of vein with notable cask sweetness, spice and strength. Very modern and ambitious. Drink 2022-2026. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

La Ganghija Di Enzo Rapalino Barbaresco DOCG Giacosa 2017

A bit past the centre line for ’17 Treiso ripeness and evergreen amplitude. Also an earthy note, albeit a sweet one that mingles with fruit and tang. Lots of wood, texture and grip. Very chewy and will develop some fun funghi and umami secondary character. Drink 2022-2028. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Mainerdo F.Lli Barbaresco DOCG Roccalini 2017

Quite a mentholated sauce and scented nebbiolo, not unlike the Barbaresco of Pora though Roccalini also delivers a multitude of red fruit. It’s berry, plum and citrus all rolled into one. There too is a note that seems uncanny but you can’t quite put your aromatic sensors on it. Chalk it up to memory that will come back one day. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted January 2020

Manera Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Simple and basic nebbiolo with mild acidity and grippy tannin. Proper enough but just not that interesting. Drink 2021-2025. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Masseria Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2017

Extremely high-toned Montersino nebbiolo with a decidedly vinyl shower curtain note. Also some fennel, mountain tea and sweet herbal aspect. Funny wine with a hard candied shell. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted January 2020

Massimo Rivetti Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Very herbal almost in a cough concoction sort of realm and certainly an alcoholic warmth mixed with some mephitic material. Smells like the stable. Not clean. Drink 2020. Tasted January 2020

Moccagatta Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Curious one this nebbiolo, at once a rich and ripe ’17 and on the other hand tight, taut and closed. Somewhat pine verdant and cool with a graphite note. Crunchy acids and plenty of texture make this one gregarious, full and ambitious. Tannins follow suit with grip and energy. Yes, the drive and the energy her are the thing. And the potential. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

Molino Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Extreme ripeness and developed cherry fruit that ultimately means simple and straightforward juice. A bit meaty and chewy in a cheaper cut, a bit too quick braised way. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted January 2020

Montaribaldi Barbaresco DOCG Montaribaldi 2017

Quite simple, tart, woody and unreflective. Comes across as sweet and overtly intentional. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted January 2020

Musso Di Musso Barbaresco DOCG Rio Sordo 2017

Perfume is off the charts in a Barbaresco nebbiolo that clearly speaks for the land from whence it has come. Fruit quality is ripe, sweet and developed while acids are just as important as tannin for a cru Barbaresco of style and no real overt need to go decades for best pleasure. The results are now and for 10 years max. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted January 2020

***** Musso Di Musso Barbaresco Pora DOCG 2017

Wow the mentholated and graphite noted aromatics are off the charts in this singular Barbaresco. Also tobacco and a fine liquidity that runs through like one substance suspended within another. Should be interesting to see when the two will emulsify and get together as one. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted January 2020

Mustela Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Ostensibly what you’d imagine Treiso Barbaresco to nose without a cru mention and in a wholly modern way. Sweet spice, cured meat and vanilla. Big wine with lots of texture. Drink 2022-2027. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Nada Giuseppe Casot Barbaresco DOCG 2017 ($33.25)

Very right, credible and proper Treiso nebbiolo from Casot here with all the constituent parts in line, one following another and no gaps to speak of. There’s a salve texture that you already knew was coming because the aromas told you so. The texture carries forth with admirable consistency and the elasticity of this Barberesco is right there behind, in support and with en eye towards the eventual conclusion. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted January 2020

Ristorante La Libera, Alba

Negro Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2017

Deeper and more developed for Neive-Gallina and surely from a warm and sunny exposition to take full advantage of the vintage. A bit lean on the other hand and also a touch verdant. This one will travels to all four corners of nebbiolo earth. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted January 2020

Orlando Abrigo Meruzzano Barbaresco DOCG 2017 ($42.95)

Earthy and reductive with the forest and the barn’s floor all over the Treiso aromatic room. Plenty of wood and where this excels is in its cool, silky and pleasurable texture. Needs time, of course it needs time. Success depends, well of course it depends. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted January 2020

Paitin Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Paitin Serraboella 2017

Almost negligible in so many ways in that it’s so very hard to get. That said the quietude is a breath of 2017 Neive air because no intrusions have been allowed to get through, neither red, green, overt or unwanted. A simply rendered nebbiolo can be your friend and here the structure is likely sneakier than first, second and third time around imagined. Charming wine from Serraboella. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

Pasquale Pelissero Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Quite blood orange, hematic and even ferric nebbiolo form the odd, curious and at times inspiring Neive 2017s. Textural on the outside and linear and lean on the inside, even this example owes to its very own variability. Tannins are a bit grippy and energy comes back and forth, in and out of time and waves. Drink 2021-20327. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco DOCG San Giuliano 2017

Developed in many ways, not the least of which is fruit in syrup and dried fruit character. Turns lean and uninteresting with a cool mint and graphite quality on the back end. Drink 2020-2022. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Marcarini 2017

A traditionally accumulated, developed and rendered Treiso nebbiolo to be frank with generous big barrel character and silken ripe 2017 fruit. Big bones and full texture make for a mouthful and one that will take years to find its classic stride. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted January 2020

Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Nervo 2017 ($59.95)

Nervo is south facing on famous Treiso blue clay. Just a lovely nose here, sweet scenting, floral and savour-candied. Just a touch of so many things; herbs, creosote, pine, cedar and scorched earth. Vanilla, chocolate and spice. Gone for it all. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted January 2020

Pietro Rinaldi San Cristoforo Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Light to developing in aromas and textures with variegations. Crunchy and chewy at the same time, with a taste profile that encompasses the liquorice, earth and wood spice profile. Lots going on here from San Cristoforo in Neive but in the present not overtly complex. Probably best to wait a year or two ands then drink young. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2020

Poderi Colla Roncaglie Barbaresco 2017 ($50.00)

Wound tight, taut and far from ready to unravel there are layers upon layers of structure in this ’17 Roncaglie-Barbaresco. Crunchy and crusted you will have to exercise great patience before even thinking you can see the light or feel the gentle pull in the elasticity of this wine. Take it slow, take your time and let it flow. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted January 2020

Rattalino Massimo Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Pretty and effusive Barbaresco nebbiolo with notable tannic structure. Quite a mouthful of barrel-influenced spice and tannin. The length is impressive so there is no doubt that this will go far. Drink 2022-2028. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Rizzi Barbaresco DOCG Pajoré 2017 ($42.95)

Again this is Pajore’ in its basked light of delicacy, ripe and rising. Understated and yet so cumulative of fruit, acidity and fine tannin. In fact the tannins accumulate with great numbers and in even greater force. This will outlive many of us to die another day. Tour de force is what nebbiolo can be albeit with Treiso subtlety and drive. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted January 2020

Roberto Sarotto Barbaresco DOCG Gaia Principe 2017 ($43.00)

There’s an almost appassimento note to this strange and unusual Neive nebbiolo and also an over-developed fruit feel. Like roll-up, very strawberry and quite overripe. So simple as a result and mired in a pectin-glycerin way. Drink 2020–2021. Tasted January 2020

Socré Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Takes a walk along a wire that supports both a lightness of being as well as some high-tonality to the point of volatility. There is an old-school Barbaresco quality to be sure and a traditional waft that is both obvious and comforting. Clean enough to eat off of though you also knows where its been. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted January 2020

***** Sottimano Barbaresco DOCG Pajoré 2017 ($103.95)

One of only two Cru Neive Barbaresco made by the family in 2017 because of hail that rained down on Basarin the 25th of April. Lower production on one hand, indelible mark of concentration and focus on the other. Elegant, lightly lifted and breezy with that density of fruit laying low, stowed safely and securely away to rise only as necessary, as the tannins melt, spread out and dissipate. Accented with chromatic prejudice as only a Sottimano nebbiolo will, xanthous, cinnabar, maroon, together imagined as spices that feed the flavours. Liquid berries, cool, fine and finessed. Does Barbaresco get more honest than this? A true window into a cru and snapshot of a vintage. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted January 2020

Taverna Barbaresco DOCG 2017

Very ripe and organized, developed and heading forward with great haste. Acids are brighter than some so there is light streaking through the Neive vintage darkness. Another example that speaks to the great variability in 2017. Drink 2020-2024. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Tenuta Baràc Barbaresco DOCG Rocche Massalupo 2017

Dark and developed nebbiolo fruit with some serious grip in its tannic step. The wood is a major factor early on and the stuffing is surely there. Needs a few years easy to let things settle and to allow full or even partial integration. Great potential from Rocche Massalupo. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted January 2020

***** Voghera Luigi Barbaresco DOCG Cottà 2017

Unusually restrained for a Neive nebbiolo of clear complexity and might. The substantial fruit texture and mineral-alloy impression cannot be ignored, nor can the exquisiteness of the elasticity be denied. So much acumen, passion and planning are clearly meant to make many requests, most notable the one that asks for patience before judgement and ultimately joy plus pleasure accumulated in the decades long exercise. Drink 2023-2035. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Barbaresco DOCG 2016 (2 reviews)

Sottimano Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2016

Basarin in the newest Cru for Sottimano, established in 2014 though the vines are already between 45-50 years old. Released just at the start of 2020 and already displaying a prominence in aromatics that speak to this exceptional nook just below Neive. From a vintage blessed for its place in history matched by a requiem for a dream. Crunchy for nebbiolo surely caused by the policy of classically long Piedmontese maceration, drawing fruit with gentle impunity and long-grained tannins in thrushes and intermingling chains. Pure dark fruit (almost raspberry) and a generous application of wood varnish. Architecture, length and character, all together. Drink 2022-2037. Tasted January 2020

Taverna Barbaresco DOCG 2016

Comes from one vineyard at the top part of the hill, Gaia Principe it’s called, one of four that make Barbaresco in the MGA (menzioni geografiche aggiuntive). Quick maceration, only seven days, not very Piedmontese and because the house tradition is to make wines to drink and drink now. A very fresh nebbiolo, sweetly perfumed, clear, pure and precise. Drink this most days. No good reason not to. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Marina Marcarino

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2015 (15 reviews)

Briccogrilli Battaglio Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Serragrilli 2015

All about aromatics for this Neive nebbiolo. Candied meets spiced, like a cinnamon lozenge, soothing and yet peppery. Not the most structured affair and thins out as the hard shell cracks, softens, melts and disappears. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted January 2020

Cantina Del Nebbiolo Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2015

Set at the highest tone, nearly to 11, with fruit rising along and everything just hanging out on the edge. Drink 2020-2022. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

***** Castello Di Verduno Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Rabajà 2015

A bit linear and herbal though there’s some substance hiding in the Barbaresco reeds. Quite closed and yet to open for the world to know and perhaps understand. Seems to shed some light with time in the glass before structure creeps in and up. Definitely wait and return. Better times lay ahead. The transparent and confident fruit will emerge. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted January 2020

Francone Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2015

Now here is a Barbaresco Riserva for an overall consumer platform with ubiquity and pleasure across all fronts. Mildly fruity and with acids meeting tannins that mimic a concept of the same, Unquestionably Neive nebbiolo and without making any demands. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020

La Bioca Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Secondine 2015

Aromatically gregarious, volatile and yet unsettled in what is still an unfinished state. So much acidity and wood without respite. Can surely be imagined as the sort of Barbaresco nebbiolo that will suddenly transform and morph into something completely other, brilliant, ethereal even. Drink 2022-2028. Barrel Sample tasted January 2020

Marchesi Di Barolo Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Rio Sordo 2015

Here’s a taut, tightly wound and spice-filled aromatic nebbiolo with a soil’s firm intention in solicitation of a wine’s structural intuition. Serious Barbaresco here with bones and elastic flesh. Let it ride. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted January 2020

Tajarin, Osteria dei Sognatori, Alba

Massimo Rivetti Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Cerebella 2015

A cool and almost minty Neive nebbiolo that lies in the nether between transparent and glycerin. Far from reduced or reductive and yet not overly oxidative either, Very middle of the road. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted January 2020

Molino Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Ausario 2015

Not merely ripe but nearly over the top, the edge and the precipice towards a falling down the other side. Tries hard and ultimately fattens, flattens into soft tones and sits out of balance. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted January 2020

Nada Giuseppe Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Casot 2015

Clear and marked upscale notes give this Treiso nebbiolo a true blue Barbaresco feel that can only lead to sensation. Very cherry and great in its soul connection to the way the wine slides gracefully into its structural components. A bit over-heated on the back end with a plethora of wood spice and mild char but it finds its way back to the cool tempered wine it wants and needs to be. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

Piazzo Comm. Armando Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Nervo 2015

A ripe Nervo nebbiolo from Treiso on the darker, nearly black cherry spectrum with a clear directive from pressing through extraction and into barrel. Flavours are cough candy and tonic. Really quite botanical in the end. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2020

Prinsi Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Fausoni 2015

Closed in aromatic terms though a sweet-scented baking spices resides in mild fade where the middle meets the background. Cool and taut, not yet ready to play or offer pleasure. Will do so when time gets under its belt. Not an overtly generous 2015 Barbaresco from Neive but clearly a serious one. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted January 2020

Produttori Del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Muncagota 2015

Quality through really earthy fruit that reflects a feeling of beetroot in a chalky tannic Barbaresco nebbiolo. Quite crusted, nearly crusty and some bitters mark the finish. Dry and tannic. Young but the fruit will need to work hard in order to stand the test and onslaught of time. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2020

***** Punset Barbaresco Basarin Riserva DOCG 2015 ($66.95)

Wildly aromatic of wild strawberry and sweet bitters liqueur. Highly glycerin and textural with grippy and elastic stretched tannins. A huge Neive Barbaresco with time definitely secure on its side. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted January 2020

Punset Barbaresco Riserva DOCG San Cristoforo 2015

This nebbiolo in the Barbaresco Riserva category goes for broke, pressed to find the fulsome glycerin that is entirely vintage possible. Extracted in tow are volatile and woolly characters with the present tense ability to infiltrate and distract. Time will act as catalyst to link the moving parts and give Neive life to what is at current a dry and tannic finish. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted January 2020

***** Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi Di Gresy Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Camp Gros Martinenga 2015

The sense of place is clearly in with a jig of fruit that whispers Martinenga in Barbaresco. Wears a fine-knitted woolly cap and wraps up red fruit in a fine tannic sweater. Well-delineated from a generous vintage with the sort of bone structure and taut flesh that will withstand and bask in comfort through many cold winters. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted January 2020

Masseria’s Alessandro Giordano and Gurvinder Bhatia

Retrospective Barbaresco DOCG 2007 ++ (15 reviews)

Masseria Barbaresco DOCG Montersino 2015

From the brothers Giordano, Stefano and Alessandro in San Rocco frazione and only 8,000 bottles produced. Spent 12-18 months in (30 per cent new) barriques and grandi botti. Almost oily rich, certainly luxurious with the blood orange notation. Nicely balanced, thoughtfully pressed and a joy to drink. Proper tannins speak for the site which makes this nebbiolo a representative of place and the youthful presence of its then 10 year-old vines. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020

Pertinace Barbaresco DOCG Nervo 2009

Vigneto Nervo is south facing on blue clay in Treiso and here 11 years on this is no longer tense and nervous as it surely once was. Still nervy to be sure and from a big vintage. Generous red fruit with more than many shakes of spice and an almost dried balsamic wooden note. Wholly unique aromatic profile. Must be the compact blue clay we’re smelling. The silky palate texture tells us we’re right in the window. Last tasted at Ristorante Luna in Sinio, January 2020

A tight, saliva-sucking, bone dry, ossified, ferric Nebbiolo. Just two sips and my tongue and gums feel like a lorry has run over them. That and the crimson smell of climbing roses. Classic really. Tasted September 2013

Adriano Marco E Vittorio Barbaresco DOCG Sanadaive 2007 ($26.45)

At 13 this Sendaive nebbiolo out of Alba has put in the work and the time, now quiet and rested. Must have been a raging one in its day because the residual volatility is present albeit rendered and flaccid now. Now all chocolate and vanilla so in other words, wood. Drink 2020. Tasted January 2020

Cascina Luisin Barbaresco DOCG Rabajà 2007

Quite advanced Rabajà having taken all the steps necessary to travel through the portal into tertiary character. The secondary Barbaresco stage is but a faint glimmer in the rear-view mirror. It’s all milk chocolate wafers and milk now. The late bites are wood spice, not acidity. Drink 2020. Tasted January 2020

Castello Di Neive Santo Stefano Albesani Barbaresco DOCG 2007 ($44.95)

The fruit has vacated the Neive premises leaving wood, alcohol and mineral smells to keep the nebbiolo faith alive. Was and persists as an earthy soul with old-school and big barrel ideals in all its former glory. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted January 2020

Cortese Giuseppe Barbaresco DOCG Rabajà 2007 ($46.95)

Advanced and chocolate-filled, red fruit still juicy and thriving, acidity too. Tannins mostly resolved but still holding the fort. Solid Rabajà 2007 from Barbaresco to be sure. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted January 2020

Paitin Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Paitin Serraboella 2007

Amazingly characterful Neive-Sorì Paitin Serraboella nebbiolo, with a pronounced note of Brettanomyces mixing with the dried fruit and mineral salts. Would peg it for older than 2007 aromatically speaking but palate wise it still crackles and pulses with life. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted January 2020

Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco DOCG Bricco San Giuliano 2007

Quite the quiet, soft and sultry nebbiolo with fruit very much intact. This is a warm 2007 that did not get under the covers and saw a Bricco San Giuliano stay away from overheating. Plenty of chocolate here and lots of life left to live and give. The Neive Pelissero heyday incarnate for Barbaresco and 2007. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020

Pelissero Barbaresco DOCG Nubiola 2007 ($45.95)

Nubiola out of Treiso is showing some age here with acids still raging and a candied sweetness to the aromas. Not nearly as expressive on the palate but when you think about the vintage and the age it still shines with as much happiness as you’d hope it would. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted January 2020

Poderi Colla Roncaglie Barbaresco DOCG 2007 ($50.00)

Colla’s 2007 Roncaglie saw a great compliment of wood, that much can be true in a 12.5 year later assessment. The fruit and the thrill are gone with the barrel and the cool savour stringing it out. Quite easy, amenable and one of the better food Barbaresco nebbiolo in this 2007 retrospective. So it’s got that going for it, which is nice. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted January 2020

Produttori Dei Barbaresco Barbaresco DOCG 2007 ($41.95)

A wee hint of mephitic reduction is maintained in this earthy, salt of the land nebbiolo from the great Barbaresco cooperative. Still showing its tannic teeth and elevating fruit up along with the high-toned character. The finish is like a Piedmontese chocolate and hazelnut torte. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted January 2020

Punset Barbaresco DOCG 2007 ($55.95)

Wildly aromatic, in a terrific window to check out the progress and clearly a top cru for nebbioplo from Neive in 2007. Which tells us Basarin is always a top cru. All have come to play and join the serious fun; fruit, nuts, wild shrubs and herbs, but also things toasted, charred, roasted and seared. All the while keeping a coolness and a winter savoury character to match the natural and honest personality it just feels so comfortable in display. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted January 2020

Rizzi Barbaresco DOCG Pajoré 2007

Pajoré from Rizzi is youthful to bely the 12 and a half years it has spent in its vessels. The notes of cherry are joined by a pinot noir like cola in Treiso nebbiolo clothing. Acids are still string and in charge while tannins are the ones to have softened. Spectacular look back in retrospection that I would wish upon everyone to have and enjoy. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted January 2020

Socrè Barbaresco DOCG Roncaglie 2007 ($50.00)

Pretty much what you might and want to expect from 2007 Barbaresco tasted in 2020. High-toned, fruit a mix of fresh and dry, acids in total control. Impressive Roncaglie that leaves a lasting impression. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020

Punset Barbaresco DOCG Campo Quadro Riserva 2005 ($71.95)

Highly complex Neive Barbaresco from Marina Marcarino’s Campo Quadro with age fully engaged but also on its side. The tones, bones and fleshy substance all show off their balance and their agility. Wise? Sure. Fortuitous? Maybe. Proper? Exactly. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted January 2020

Tenute Cisa Asinari Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Camp Gros 2005 ($104.00)

A bit of a demurred Barbaresco here from Camp Gros and yet the fruit has surely lasted without too much stress or effort. Crunchy and a touch earthy, quite floral and really elegant. Lovely at 14 years-old. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020

Good to go!

godello

Flying in to Pi-e-mon-te

Twitter: @mgodello

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WineAlign

Secret agent wine

Oct26

Champagne Laurent Perrier, https://twitter.com/Noble_Estates

Most consumers regard the LCBO as the only source for purchasing wine in Ontario. That is understandable when you consider the blanketing influence a monopoly has over the public. The commodification of wine in this province can be like gasoline and health care. You know exactly where to go when you need a fill-up, a prescription or a bottle of wine. Or, do you?

There are options. The most obvious is a one or two-hour drive west on the QEW or east on the 401 from Toronto, to the Niagara and Prince Edward County wine regions. A bit further west you can find cellar door availability in the Lake Erie North Shore and Ontario South Coast areas. There is something else out there. You can also buy by the case.

The greatest little secret in Ontario lies in the briefcases full of fine wine in the hands of Ontario’s importers and agents. The importers tote portfolios of consignment wines rarely seen on LCBO shelves, often found on restaurant lists, ready and willing to fill cellars, wine fridges and passive wine racks in homes scattered across this province. You just need to know where to look, who to ask and get some sound advice on what’s worth purchasing, by the case.

Related – Buy the Case: Trialto Group

The thing is, you have to buy by the case when using an Ontario importer as your source and there are many reasons to do so. At WineAlign we break it down for you. Restaurant pours buy the glass, cellar-worthy wines, cases to split with friends, house wines, etc., etc.

There are some who might question the motive and the execution. It’s quite simple really and transparent. The agenda is straightforward and obvious. WineAlign is a dual-sided platform for wine commerce and education. One hand allows agents and local wineries to promote their wares and to introduce their hard work to a public that might not otherwise know they are there. The other hand allows critics from across the country to write independent reviews on their wines, the best of which are included in reports on those agents and vignerons. Some of the wines do not receive favourable reviews. As a consumer, do you want to see those reviews linked to in the article? Would you not rather be informed about what floated the critical boats and to know what to buy? The sponsored content is advertorial. The reviews are not.

“Importers pay for this service. Ads for some wines may appear at the same time, but the decision on which wines to put forward in our report, if any, is entirely up to each critic, as it is with our reviews of in-store wines.”

A Report on Consignment Wines in Ontario
Written by WineAlign

For an explanation of the program, the process and our 10 Good Reasons to Buy the Case, please click here.

Over the past six months we have tasted wines from several portfolios. I wrote about the first Buy the Case with Trialto Wine Group, listed in the link above. Here are some of my reviews from the more recent tastings, from Noble Estates, Treasury Wine Estates, Cavinona and Da Capo Wines.

Noble Estates

Domaine Pfister Pinot Blanc 2013, Alsace, France ($22.99, WineAlign)

Hillside Marl sites provide the fruit and fodder for this precise Pinot Blanc. Auxerrois can be used to infuse brio bolstering punch for such a pristine white made by the deft hands of winemaker Mélanie Pfister. I have tasted this 2013 more than 15 times and it always come up the same; clean, polished, lithe and on a sure bee-line away from the honey comb. The need for development is not the crux of this pleasure. Sips alone and swallows alongside much varied gastronomy is the matter at hand and should be on many an occasion. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted many times, November 2014 to September 2015

Planeta Etna Bianco 2014, Sicily, Italy ($29.99, WineAlign)

From Castiglione di Sicilia (Catania) and the most ancient of Sicilian grape varieties, what more could be ingratiated in depth of Carricante and its carbon dating fascination. The rich mineral layering is intense and munificent at the same time. Herbs and salinity in candied flowers grace both nose and palate. This is a near perfect vintage for such a wine. Clearly built slowly by sunshine and long shadows. Finishes as philanthropic as it began. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted September 2015 @PlanetaWinery @WinesOfSicily

Hedges Cuvee Marcel Dupont Syrah Red Mountain Les Gosses Vineyard 2012, Washington ($49.99, WineAlign)

Less than 3,000 cases were produced of this single-vineyard (Les Gosses), 100 per cent Syrah. This has the je ne sais quoi of Syrah meets Red Mountain AVA, in fact it has the JNSQ of anywhere in the Syrah diaspora. The regular attributes of meaty, gritty, peppery, pitchy and prime are all in. What sets it apart is balance and chivalry. “Everybody has their own opinion” and mine of this wine could lead to addiction. Addicted to the mountain song it sings in refrain, again and again. This is no Jane doe of a Syrah. It steals the limelight and puts on a terrific show. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted September 2015 @hedgeswine @WINESofWA

Nickel & Nickel John C. Sullenger Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Napa Valley, California (142546, $174.99, WineAlign)

Gorgeous aromatics from the depths of deep clay, raised on sunshine and held back from crossing any extracted or sullen wood lines. A keen sense of graphite shredded into wheat and concrete streaks through the purity that is pristine 2012 Oakville fruit. This is Cabernet for the cellar, to collect by the half dozen (or more if you can afford it) and open one every two years for the next 12 to 24. This has the legs and the agility to slowly braise and develop for at least that long. The balance and the length are as good as it gets. Drink 2017-2036. Tasted October 2015 @NickelandNickel

Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle Grand Cuvée, Champagne, France (379982, $199.99, WineAlign)

Grand Siècle is a wine paid full attention in detail. The master’s blown glass should make that crystal clear. Chardonnay (55 per cent) and Pinot Noir (45), give or take a few approximating points is culled from a blend of 11 grands crus; Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Ambonnay, Bouzy, Louvois, Mailly, Tours-sur-Marne and Verzenay. If freshness, elegance and structure are the intent, here is a wine in kind of a perfect three for three, though elegance is the clear winner. When all aspects are aligned, where finesse talks in soft spoken tones and why Champagne can be so delicate is the mystery revealed in the Grand Siècle. A walk through this cuvée is getting lost in a ten foot flower garden, canopy overhead. A taste means delicate gastronomy. A glide to the finish is effortless. All this adds up to wonderful symmetry. Champagne can be great when it tows a direct, purposed line. This will last decades and it can certainly, twist my arm, be enjoyed now. Great combo. Drink 2015-2035. Tasted September 2015 @ChampagneLPUSA

Treasury Wine Estates

Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, California ($19.95, WineAlign)

This California-designated Cabernet is composed from fruit drawn out of the North Coast and Central Coast. The North Coast vineyards stretch from Sonoma to Lake County and the Central Coast fruit in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara. A warm (13.8 per cent alcohol) Cab to be sure but several shades this side of hot. The tones are elevated and a bit jumpy, with fruit noting plum, pomegranate and ultra ripe to sweetened cranberry. Wood spice (from eight months in French and American oak) gives cinnamon and Goji berry. The perfume keeps wafting in waves, intoxicatingly so, prepping the palate for really solid fruit flavours. Though not the deepest nor the longest spoke on the Cabernet wheel, this CSJ works in the simplest, apropos ways. Highly aromatic, well-structured, righteously crafted and respectfully restrained. The sweet finish is dipped in chocolate. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted May 2015 @CSJWines

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva 2011, Tuscany, Italy ($22.95, WineAlign)

Always at or near the apex of CCR value, the 2011 is of a rich, modern, pitched deeply and highly purposed vintage. It elevates its game in all facets; fruit, acidity, tannin and warmth. A muzzle of bees seems to add muted, buzzing complexity in a Sangiovese with a faint if unusual smell of honey. In this Riserva, the “sun gets passed, sea to sea…with the breeze blown through.” The natural ripening leads to aromas indicating slow-cured plum, anise, and candied rose petals. The deeper tones are like hot autostrada surface, the gait slow roasted, with charred protein and dehydrating red fruits. In three years the fruit will seem fully dried, slightly oxidized and potentially caramelized. Express compliance of these instructions need heed by agreeing to drink this in the short term with an hour or two of radio air time. This to allow the astringent tannin to be tamed. Roger, Wilco that. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted May 2015 @castgabbiano @chianticlassico

Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir 2012, Yarra Valley, Australia ($29.95, WineAlign)

Culled from the upper and lower Yarra Valleys, the ’12 is a high-toned tome of rusty, dusty, ricochet in fruit. Seemingly warmer than its 13.5 alcohol suggests, but like the Arizona desert, it’s a dry heat. The metal urgency of sloping hillside impart is a bit tense. The is the OZ equivalent of terse Burgundy when mired in youth. The copious quantity of red fruit, both tart and ripe, is admirably in and with more time, beyond the current anxious phase, will come around again. The depth of flavour and grain ingrained in texture pushes the point. The finish is distinctly parallel and long. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted May 2015

Etude Pinot Gris 2013, Carneros, California ($39.95, WineAlign)

Made in Pinot Gris exactitude, of inklings warm, in certitude dry, to intimations Alsatian, with nobly bitter flavours and a wealth of grape tannin. The preceding aromas recalled late August orchard’s stone fruit. With lieu-dit (think Altenbourg) premier cru (equivalent) ability, this is a very stylish Pinot Gris with layers of fruit and acidity. It’s certainly one for the cellar, to forget and allow for a secondary set of developments, in wax, honey and atmospheric, elemental aerified notions. Quite fearless PG. Were it $30, it would surely be a multi-case buy. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted May 2015 @etudewines @CarnerosWine

Da Capo Wines

Mas Las Cabes Côtes Du Roussillon 2012, Ac Côtes Du Roussillon, Languedoc-Roussillon, France ($19.75, WineAlign)

Beautifully funky southern French Syrah-Grenache meld, at once warm and then modern, entrenched in earth and laden with a smother and a smoulder. Syrupy but characterful far beyond simple, with spice, savour and garagiste intent. The garrigue accent runs across the grain in high altitude, windswept ways. Solid protein red for any day of the week and a candidate for restaurant list partner. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted August 2015 @LanguedocWines

Frank Family Zinfandel 2012, Napa Valley, California ($42.75, WineAlign)

A really lovely Zinfandel, of pure red fruits and just a fine, delineating, if zig-zagging swath of bramble. Though the alcohol (listed at 14.8 per cent) is anything but peckish, the heat does not overtake the fruit. This has so many barbecue forms and fetishes written into its DNA. It will comply with nary a complaint. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted August 2015 @FrankFamilyWine @TheZinfandelOrg

Albino Rocca Duemilaundici Barbaresco 2011, Piedmont, Italy ($65.95, WineAlign)

Point blank Barberesco, autarchic and traditional, built on memories and bent on making new ones. From a clay-limestone, south facing, single vineyard in a cru called Montersino (in the Treiso commune). Where it differs from the Ronchi is the natural cure coursing in slow food motion through its blood stream, carrying micro-oxygenated blood. There are notes of crushed aniseed and sweaty clay. The mouthfeel is silkier, more refined and the tannins sweeter. Can actually imagine this pleasing sooner and also for longer. Drink 2017-2032. Tasted August 2015 @regionepiemonte

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Terre Di Giurfo Kudyah Nero D’avola 2013, Doc Sicily, Italy ($19.50, WineAlign)

Kudyah is the arabic name for the Sicilian town of Licodea Eubea nearest to Terre di Giurfo’s vineyards. Quite classic, rich, ruby red raspberry and earth Nero d’Avola. Tons of fruit, chews of liquorice and a mineral finish add up to a very direct, simple pleasure. A scrape of orange zest adds a florality to lift spirits and relieve stress. Just a bit salutary and saline on the finish. Very honest Nero. Tasted 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015 @WinesOfSicily

Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Rosé, Lombardy, Italy ($33.50, WineAlign)

Statuesque, rustic, ancient ruin of Franciacorta, on a clear day, of tall grasses, oxidative apples and slices of hard Lombardian cheese. A total, classical, storied package of gastronomy in a bottle. Not so much Rosé as much as bubbles with a fostered history of age. Arid as the desert and piercing from acidity. This will be misunderstood by some, reveled in by others. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015 @contadicastaldi @Franciacorta

Fattoria Di Milziade Antano Montefalco Rosso Riserva 2011, Doc Umbria, Italy ($50.50, WineAlign)

From arguably a better vintage than 2012, this Montefalco exhibits a deeper treasury of fruit, thankful and necessary to handle the wood it has been dealt. The fusion into such a sanguine and ferric stream has been achieved with more direct consciousness than the free-feeling and liberismo 2012 normale. The red fruit here is dense, steroidal even, yet still pure and direct. Largesse in rusticity is the plainly assessed goings on, chewy and dusty, a figure head for Sagrantino in Umbria. This is Italian wine to define the meaning of provinciale, deeply ingrained for place, history and tradition. Like its baby brother it will need time to settle but not so much that the fruit submits to the tannin. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted July 2015

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Tag Archives: Albino Rocca

Nebbiolo previews 2024: Roero DOCG 2021, Barbaresco DOCG 2021, Roero Riserva DOCG 2020, Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2019 and Retrospectives

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