Winemaker Notes
This Barbaresco stands out for its harmonious, well-balanced expression, with a luscious floralscented bouquet, magisterial structure, and lingering taste. At once crisp and elegant, with a succulent mouth feel this superb classic lends itself to immediate enjoyment or to medium/long term cellaring.
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2021 Barbaresco shows all the pedigree and classicism of this great vintage. Bright, poised and super- expressive, the 2021 is. total delight in every way. Crushed leaves, orange peel, mint, rosewater and sweet pipe tobacco are some of the many notes that grace a Barbaresco, which is all about sublime elegance.
-
James Suckling
Gorgeous, bright fruit aromas highlight this generous and super well-balanced wine. A lively feel backed by medium to full tannins gives it an appetizing palate packed with raspberries, tart cherries and citrus accents.
-
Wine Spectator
This is ripe and fluid, sporting cherry, strawberry, forest floor, iron, sanguine and spice aromas and flavors. Linear and wiry in profile, with terrific balance and length. Shows fine complexity.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The ruby-hued 2021 Barbaresco is savory and ripe with aromas of medicinal herbs, cherry lozenge, sour cherries, salty earth, menthol, and licorice. Medium-bodied, it’s rich through the palate, with ripe tannins and notes of sanguine blood orange as well as iron-rich minerals on the finish. It offers good length and is a rather serious entry.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Opening with aromas of of sour plum and delicate violets that intertwine with savory notes of mint and rosemary this Barbaresco graces the glass. A balance between tart red berries and rounded tannins give the palate a sturdy frame from which to age on as roasted mushrooms, licorice root and crushed stones provide a counterbalance. Drink from 2026.
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.