Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Scents of whole roses (stem, leaf and petal) provide an intoxicating introduction to this wine’s high-toned flavors of red cherry, sour plum and pomegranate. Brisk acidity and fine, chalky tannins frame the flavors as they unfold in layers of licorice, tobacco and a hint of white chocolate.
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Wine Spectator
A pristine red, displaying great clarity to the strawberry, cherry, rose and menthol flavors. By the time this evolves to the finish, the tannins make their mark, yet never overstep their bounds. In the end this is balanced, expressive and set to develop. Best from 2023 through 2043.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Ca' Rome' 2016 Barbaresco Rio Sordo opens to great aromatic intensity with dark fruit, dried cherry, licorice and crushed limestone. These classic traits are very in line with the vintage, and they reflect Nebbiolo from Barbaresco. The tannins are silky and firm, but they are also well integrated into the texture of the wine. The wine ages in barrique for eight months followed by 12 months in Slavonian oak, and this process adds to the volume and layering you get in Rio Sordo. Production for this vintage is 7,000 bottles.
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.