Winemaker Notes
In the heart of Barbaresco appellation, Martinenga is among the most important MeGA of the area, confining with Asili, on the western side, and Rabaja, towards northeast. A single vineyard of 11.93 hectares in an amphitheater shape. South-southwest exposure at an altitude between 220m and 290m a.s.l.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Beautiful classic aromas of mixed cherries, tobacco, warmed spices and bay leaf enchant the senses. The refined and elegant palate offers a blend of warmed fruit and density, with an earthy, well-structured and mineral-driven finish. Drink from 2025–2045.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
Extremely perfumed and pleasant on the nose with hibiscus, cherry blossom, orange peel and watermelon aromas that follow through to a medium body with very fine tannins with such lovely length. Beautiful. Very silky and fine. Exquisite.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the appellation's classic wines, the Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy 2020 Barbaresco Martinenga delivers a soft entry to the palate with subtle cherry and sweet raspberry. Those fruit tones are laced with dusty mineral and white licorice. The wine delivers medium-weight texture, but the finish remains long and polished over time. The tannins will soften with a few more years of bottle age.
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Wine Spectator
Offering cherry and strawberry fruit shaded by hay, eucalyptus, green tea and mineral notes, this broad, juicy and racy red tightens up, leaving a compact finish today. Needs time to open. Best from 2026 through 2043.
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.