Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a spectacular Barbaresco. It is awesomely thick, rich, and textured, with unreal opulence as well as glycerin levels that define the finest offerings from the 1997 vintage. Albino Rocca hit the bull's eye in 1997. Awesome, the 1997 Barbaresco Vigneto Brich Ronchi is a tour de force in winemaking. Its dark plum/ruby color is accompanied by explosive blackberry/cherry fruit aromas. In the mouth, its viscous texture, low acidity, and overripe Nebbiolo characteristics provide remarkable intensity, and extraordinary flavor richness with notes of blackberries, cherries, coffee, smoke, licorice, and earth. The finish lasts for nearly 45 seconds.
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Wine Spectator
Dark brick red. Full-bodied, soft and velvety, with lots of ripe fruit, meat and chocolate character. Just right.--1997 Italian blind retrospective.
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.