Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with fresh egg pastas, risottos, white meats, red meats, venison and cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Wild berry, fragrant blue flower, baking spice and a balsamic note of menthol shape the nose. Structured and focused, the tense palate delivers juicy red cherry, raspberry compote, star anise and cinnamon while taut, finegrained tannins and bright acidity provide the backbone. It has a youthfully austere finish that promises great aging potential. Drink 2022–2036.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico shows a darkly concentrated appearance and full-bodied appeal that is immediately obvious to all the senses, from eyes to nose to mouth. The wine is soft, round and thickly textured. I would have expected more acidity in these wines, but this vintage, at least, offers more sweet and dense fruit instead. You could taste it in its youth with a goose-liver pâté, or cellar it for a couple of years and see where it goes.
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Wine Spectator
Dark and brooding on the nose, exhibiting black cherry, earth, tar and iron flavors, this red shows assertive tannins yet comes together nicely on the finish. There's a touch of heat, but otherwise everything is in the right place. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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.