Winemaker Notes
Color is ruby red. On the nose, intense and elegant. Flavors are dry, warm, full-bodied, harmonic.
Pair with red meat dishes, game.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
With alluring aromas of cherry, black currant and flowers shaded by sweet spices and earth, this red is open and harmonious, though a few years in the cellar will improve it. Fine energy and length. Best from 2020 through 2033.
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James Suckling
Fascinating aromas of earth, soil, dried strawberries and flowers follow through to a full body with round and juicy tannins. A flavorful finish. Lots of new wood now. A little old-school, but it will come around with age.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing ripe and soft fruit characteristics, the 2015 Barbaresco is a round and fruit-forward expression of Nebbiolo. This delicious wine makes a great choice for near and medium-term drinking. You do not need to wait long because the rich plushness of those dark cherry and blackberry flavors make it readily accessible straight out of the gate. You do get toasted oak notes that frame dark fruit flavors.
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.