Winemaker Notes
The bouquet shows blueberry, roses, violet, raspberry and mint. The palate has an intrinsic minerality, with lingering hints of sage, bright red fruit, silky tannins and stunning elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Exotic aromas of rose, peony, raspberry and kirsch are shaded by juniper, wild thyme and tar accents. This is an elegant red, firmly structured yet balanced and long, with a persistent, detailed finish. Best from 2022 through 2036.
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Decanter
Giorgio Rivetti of La Spinetta is one of the region's leading modernists, producing voluptuous wines with great intensity of flavour. This is aged in older tonneaux so is not overtly oaky. The nose is opulent, with super-ripe but not overblown cherry aromas, and the attack is sweet, concentrated and tannic, blending breadth and assertion. It's powerful and spicy, showing energy rather than upfront fruitiness, with a long, chewy finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2034
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James Suckling
Decadent and rich aromas of smoked meat, ripe fruit and rose stems. Lots of leather, too. Full body, round and soft tannins and a delicious finish. Give it a year or two to come around more, but already delicious.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Barbaresco Vigneto Bordini is La Spinetta's most accessible expression of Barbaresco. I tasted the wine one month after it was bottled. This edition should be hitting the market within the next few months. Fruit for this wine comes from the southeast side of the Bordini cru that is known for softer and sweeter berries. That ripeness is particularly evident in this warm vintage. This wine is packed tight with flavors of cherry and blackberry confit and ends with powerful 14.5% alcohol. This is a ripe-tasting, near-term Barbaresco.
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.