Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very intense Barbaresco with super depth and intensity. Lots of ripe berries, chocolate, hazelnuts and smoked meat. Full-bodied, layered and powerful. Drink from 2023 and onwards.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Ca' Rome' 2016 Barbaresco Maria di Brün is dedicated to vintner Giuseppe Marengo's grandmother, Maria. She had deep roots in the Serralunga d'Alba area and was the original owner of the property the family now farms in this comune, specifically in the Cerretta and Rapet vineyards. This is a limited-edition wine only made in the best vintages (and some 2,500 bottles of the 2016 edition are available). The wine shows power and depth with a robust and generous quality of fruit. Black cherry, plum and cassis emerge from the bouquet. Fruit comes from a site with soils that are rich in magnesium and manganese. Once the wine opens in the glass, you recognize some rusty iron-ore aromas as well.
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Wine Spectator
Ample flavors of plum, black cherry, tar, eucalyptus and spice mark this beefy red. There is plenty of sweet fruit, offset by burly tannins. Comes together nicely on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2037.
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.