Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico pours a slightly deeper red color than the Ovello and opens with inviting aromas of sweet cedar, cherry liqueur, toasted spice, and polished leather. Medium-bodied, it delivers vibrant acidity, velvety tannins, and a bit more depth and structure on the palate. The finish is long and persistent. Roughly 16,348 bottles and 1,826 magnums were produced. Drink 2028-2050.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Produttori del Barbaresco 2021 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico is another large-scale Nebbiolo in this ladder of Riserva intensity. The wine shows notable texture and depth with flavors of dark fruit, blackcurrant and dried cherry that unfold steadily across the palate. Subtle notes of spice, cinnamon, licorice and camphor build in the background, adding complexity and dimension. Sourced from 3.9 hectares of vines on calcareous clay soils, Montefico consistently delivers a more structured and powerful expression of Barbaresco, and the 2021 vintage amplifies those qualities.
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Wine Spectator
A rich version, offering flavors of black cherry, blackberry, violet, iron and spices, with a line of dense tannins underneath. The fruit builds, yet overall this is reserved and less expressive than its peers despite a deep core of fruit. Shows balance and fine length, but give this time. Best from 2030 through 2048.
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James Suckling
Spicy and aromatic, this is full of wild herbs and strawberries, licorice and mint. Fully focused on freshness yet restrained, showing balsamic and figs. Full-bodied, silky to velvety on the palate due to superripe tannins, with crisp acidity and a tight yet chiseled structure in the finish. Long and warming. March 2026 release. Drink or hold.
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.