Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Underbrush, tilled soil, violet, pressed rose petal and ripe berry aromas emerge on this polished, full-bodied red. The palate shows nice tension, offering juicy wild cherry, raspberry, ground clove, cinnamon and chopped herb framed by fine-grained tannins. A licorice note closes the firm finish
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James Suckling
A red with beautiful clarity and purity plus dried strawberry, mushroom and dried flowers. Full body, fine tannins and beautiful fruit. Makes you want to drink it now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pio Cesare's 2011 Barbaresco is a tight and compact Nebbiolo that reveals an attractive level of aromatic intensity and energy. This is a well-composed wine that delivers wild berry, toasted almond and black licorice aromas. Softer fruit flavors appear on the finish. The wine is almost ready to drink now and in the medium-term.
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Wine & Spirits
One-third of Pio Cesare's 2011 aged in French oak barriques, lending notes of vanilla, cinnamon and clove to the rich red fruit flavors. Layers of tobacco and herbs add complexity, but this will be better in two to three years, when the flavors have knit together.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry, licorice, menthol and tar aromas and flavors mark this a pure, racy red. Tight and reticent now, with intensity and length for the medium term. Best from 2017 through 2026.
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.