Winemaker Notes
Intense garnet red with Nebbiolo's typical orange shades. The nose is complex and elegant, with flower and violet aromas. Robust, dry and pleasantly tannic on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is red-fruited and spiced with crushed walnuts and licorice. Medium-bodied with polished, delicate tannins. It has a fresh and vivid fruit character and polished mineral finish, with hints of citrus peel and dried herbs. From organically grown grapes. Attractive now, but better in a year or two.
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Wine Enthusiast
This sweetly spiced Barbaresco is charming and vibrant, showing aromas of candied cherries, allspice, cedar and mixed wild herbs. Elegant tannins create a path for flavors of dried cranberries and dried orange peel to meet with an umami note that ties the wine together. Drink now–2035.
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Wine Spectator
A savory version, this red boasts juniper, eucalyptus and mint aromas and flavors that accent the cherry, strawberry and floral core. Lean and taut, with dusty tannins coating the gums on the finish. Best from 2027 through 2042.
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.