Winemaker Notes
Garnet red in color. The nose is fine, complex and fruity with sweet spices and vanilla. The flavor is dry, full-bodied, rich, warm, harmonic, and quite tannic with good persistence.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Superfresh and focused, delivering pure flavors of blackberry, black currant, violet and mineral, with a hint of tar. It's all backed by refined tannins and bright acidity, providing structure that should allow this to develop over the next 20 years. Best from 2014 through 2030. 1,916 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Barbaresco Bric Balin is simply gorgeous. This is a decidedly fat, generous Bric Balin endowed with layers of red fruit, cinnamon, cloves and crushed flowers. The oak is very nicely balanced. In 2007 the Bric Balin possesses an unusual amount of depth and textural richness. The tannins are also a bit backward, suggesting the wine needs another 2-3 years to fully open up. This is an impressive effort from Moccagatta. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.
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.