Winemaker Notes
On the nose, Pressenda has clean aromas of red fruit not quite open, while in the mouth its powerful taste would do well with equally powerful dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is aromatic with dried red berries, red plums, dried blood orange, nutmeg and moist earth. Medium- to full-bodied. Tannins are firm but ripe and well-integrated, with vivid fruit underneath and a spicy, zesty finish. Needs some time to soften. Try after 2025.
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Vinous
The 2019 Barolo Riserva Pressenda is a potent, deep wine. Macerated cherry, orange zest, cinnamon, rose petal and dried herbs lend an air of exotic complexity to this firm Barolo. I would prefer to drink this over the next handful of years, as it appears to be reaching its first plateau of maturity. Give this a bit of aeration.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a range of cherry, strawberry, iron, tobacco and eucalyptus flavors. Starts with a supple texture, giving way to sinewy tannins as this plays out on the finish. A tad dry, but long. Best from 2027 through 2042.
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Wine Enthusiast
Energetic and excited to lift out of the glass this Barolo opens with aromas of crushed cherries and raspberries surrounded by fresh green herbs, and mixed spices. Hitting the palate with a density that surprises the wine is dense with darker fruit flavors that are lifted by vibrant acidity and hemmed in by firm tannins that in combination will give this wine a long life. Drink 2026 - 2045.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.