Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with grilled food, sauced and roasted red meat and wild game.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Barbaresco Vigneto Bordini sees fruit harvested from 30- to 35-year-old vines planted in the sandy soils of the Bordini cru of Neive. The first vintage produced was 2006. This wine is hugely aromatic with floral tones of pressed violets and lavender backed by garden herbs and mint. The long, menthol finish is divine. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.
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James Suckling
Very fresh aromas of roses and ripe fruits. Cedar too. Full to medium body. Starts off slowly and then ends with a chewy tannin and savory finish. Give it two or three.
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Wine Spectator
Enticing cherry, iron, tar and underbrush aromas introduce this ironclad, tannic red. The core of pure fruit and subtle truffle bodes well for future development. Best from 2016 through 2027.
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.