Fontanabianca Barbaresco 2018
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
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Spectator
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Medium ruby red. Elegant and harmonious nose with aromas of plum, mushroom and cherry skin. Full bodied and dry with silky tannins and a fresh finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Fontanabianca 2018 Barbaresco is taut and elegant, showing the kind of bright primary fruit that should accompany this wine as it begins and completes its aging trajectory. The wine is very silky and fine, and it shows a nuanced texture that gives this bottle its competitive edge. Fruit comes from a 4.5-hectare site with south and southeast exposures and calcareous clay soils. Production is an ample 30,000 bottles.
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James Suckling
Red cherries with hints of cassis and earth, against a background of solid, spicy oak. Medium-bodied with firm oak and fruit tannins and a rather chewy finish. Give this two or three of years to even out. Best from 2024.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sourced from three vineyards within Neive, the 2018 Barbaresco was aged for 20-22 months in a combination of large barrels and barriques. The 2018 leads with medicinal herbs of Amaro, sour cherry, barnyard, and apricot. Fresh with tangy pomegranate pulp on the palate, orange peel, and turned earth, with building tannins on the finish, there is a natural feel and sensibility to the wine that is full of energy.
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Wine Spectator
Packed with plum, cherry, earth, tobacco and iron flavors, this red is as savory as it is fruity. Firms up on the finish, with mouthcoating tannins leaving their mark on the finish. Eucalyptus and rosemary accents linger.
Other Vintages
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Suckling
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James
Suckling -
Robert
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Wine &
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At the Fontanabianca Winery they have clear ideas: quality is closely related to the features of the soil in the region of Neive, where Aldo Pola and Bruno Ferro, with their wives, have been carrying on their work, which the fathers of (Franco Pola and Ottavio Ferro) started in 1969. The winery has been producing local grapes and wines for decades, even before being given the name of "Fontanabianca", representing a strong identification with the hills of Neive and a tie with this great wine region. This tradition is celebrated with the harvest year after year. Over the years the brand has been consolidated, thanks to the bottling of wine first and foremost and then to the promotion of wine through tasting events and fairs. The philosophy of Fontanabianca can be resumed as follows: quality wine can be called this way only if it mirrors the taste of the local territory. "We, the producers, are the first consumers, so we want to propose a taste that can be appreciated: the taste and perfume of Neive": this is Fontanabianca. The market has already shown its appreciation: the brand, signed by Aldo Pola and Bruno Ferro, is present in many foreign countries, with several awards as well. From the United States to Northern Europe, from Japan to Australia the Fontanabianca wine renews the tradition of a land made up of perfumes and great elegance.
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.