Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Nubiola is quite the overachiever in this year's lineup from Pelissero. Aromatically intense and also quite deep, the Nubiola impresses with its balance. The blend of different sites was clearly an advantage. Bright red-toned fruit, cedar, tobacco, orange peel and pomegranate lend notable complexity throughout. Give the tannins a few years to soften.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
With a note of peach yogurt perfume coming off the 2019 Barbaresco Nubiola, it is fragrant with roses, wild strawberry, and herbes de Provence. Medium-bodied, it offers deceptive approachability, although its more noble structure quicky emerges from its more up-front fruit profile. Earthy minerals, cranberry cocktail, and blood orange intertwine for this impressive Barbaresco. Drink 2024-2040.
-
Wine Spectator
A taut, lightly sinewy red informed by a mix of cherry, plum, eucalyptus and tobacco flavors. For now, the balance tips toward the grainy tannins, yet this offers a lasting impression of fruit and savoriness. Best from 2026 through 2042. 2,600 cases made, 700 cases imported.
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.