Winemaker Notes
#61 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2017
100% Nebbiolo, Ovello is one of the premiere sites in the entire Barbaresco wine growing region. Perfectly situated in the hills above the Tanaro River with
S/SW exposure and limestone and sandy soil give this wine both elegance and intensity. Delicious now and will age well.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This pretty red offers delicate flavors and subtle power, evoking flowers, red berry, mineral, tobacco and tar on the nose and palate. Firmly structured, this remains harmonious and long on the mineral- and tobacco-tinged finish. Best from 2020 through 2036.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Barbaresco Ovello is released one year after its peers. It undergoes two years of oak aging followed by 18 months of bottle rest before its commercial release. This is one of my favorite expressions from Barbaresco, and the 2013 vintage is especially beautiful and elegant. The wine offers an exceptional level of purity and finesse with light touches of wild berry, smoke, ash and balsam herb. Some 6,000 bottles were made.
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.