Winemaker Notes
It is the wine that has always represented us in substance and style. Elegant tannins with dark red fruit and persistent finish. The fruit is always present, flanked by spices, flowers and balsamic notes.
Pair with grilled beef or sausage, roasted vegetables, and gorgonzola dolce.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Baked cherries, mingled with sweet spices and a touch of thyme, blend harmoniously with crushed rocks and stone elements. Well-structured with fine tannins and lifted acidity, this wine delivers in all aspects. A wine to add to your collection. Drink 2026–2045.
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Decanter
Intoxicating violet soaked with black cherry, a touch of herb, dark, dried cherry with depths of balsam, chocolate and rhubarb. Dense palate, great concentration, firm tannins, dusty yet ripe, with juicy acidity, some tartness of the fruit and a chocolaty finish. Great tension for ageing. Very polished finish despite the muscularity. Extremely classic winemaking if not old fashioned, with higher temperatures of fermentation up to 30-32°C and ageing in large oak for 18-24 months.
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Wine Spectator
A sleek, aromatic red, offering cherry, strawberry, rose hip, mineral and wild herb flavors. Balanced and lingers on the finish, where the fruit and herb elements echo. A high-wire act.
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.