Winemaker Notes
Pure, high-toned red berry aromas and flavors with green peppercorn, spice and almond notes, surround a core of vivid acidity and moderate tannins. Similar in character to Barolo, but more delicate, this Barbaresco has great aging potential.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This opens with earthy aromas of leather, forest floor, game and balsamic notes of camphor. The elegant, taut palate evokes dried cherry, cranberry, fennel and tobacco alongside tightly knit tannins and vibrant acidity. Give it time to fully develop.
Cellar Selection
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James Suckling
A ripe and fruity red with plum and berry aromas and flavors. Lots of citrus rind and cherries. Full body, round and velvety tannins and a flavorful finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Barbaresco Reyna represents a blend of fruit from various vineyard sites. The Michele Chiarlo estate owns seven hectares of Nebbiolo in Barbaresco, and this wine is conceived as an expression of a grape, rather than any one particular vineyard site. In fact, the wine is classic Barbaresco, with fine fruit flavors followed by slightly more accessible or silky tannin (when compared to Barolo), making it a great pairing with a grilled sirloin.
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Wine Spectator
Menthol and eucalyptus aromas and flavors mark this intense red, picking up cherry, plum and sweet spice notes as this builds to a lingering finish. Dusty tannins and a cocoa accent line the aftertaste.
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.