Winemaker Notes
It goes well with red meat dishes, game and mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Enticing scents of underbrush, tilled earth, wild rose and woodland berry align with balsamic notes of cool menthol. The linear, elegant palate offers red cherry, raspberry, white pepper and tobacco alongside taut, refined tannins. It's all about focus and finesse. Drink 2024–2036.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and juicy, offering cherry, strawberry, rose hip tea, licorice and tar flavors. Firms up, but the tannins are well-coated with flesh. Shows fine balance and length. Best from 2021 through 2033.
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Decanter
The Adriano family produce this wine from different Barbaresco sites. Some previous vintages have been light or green, but this shows a return to form. The nose is poised and elegant, with delicate red fruit aromas and a touch of mint. Initially supple, it gains tannic grip and concentration on the mid-palate, and the finish is assertive and quite long.
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.
A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighboring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio.
Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.