Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with fresh egg pastas, risotto, with meats, poultry, red meats, game, venison and aged cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
To be released in September, the 2014 Barbaresco is a beautiful wine that encompasses the important qualities that we look for in fine Nebbiolo. Ultimately, this is the kind of vintage that transfers best to the delicate grape. It saw a long growing season (Nebbiolo loves a late harvest) and steep diurnal temperature shifts to lock in the freshness of aromas. The mouthfeel is a bit thinner in texture, but it delivers plenty of beautiful length and endurance instead. It offers crisp tones of cherry fruit with licorice, wet earth and blue flowers. The line of Barbaresco Riserva wines from the various single vineyards will be made in 2014 (and will be released in early 2018).
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James Suckling
Rose petal and strawberry aromas follow through to a full body, chewy tannins and a fresh finish. Tar. Flavorful finish. Very well-done for the vintage. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Classic varietal aromas of young Nebbiolo include woodland berry, freshly picked violet and a whiff of tilled soil fill the glass. The fresh, elegant palate delivers red cherry, strawberry, star anise and a hint of graphite set against vibrant acidity and polished tannins. Drink through 2024. Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
Fragrant, with cherry, strawberry and rose notes, this elegant red offers flavors of berry fruit, licorice and underbrush, ending with a firm grip of tannins and chewy licorice and spice accents. Best from 2019 through 2032.
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.