Winemaker Notes
The color is ruby red. Bouquet of fresh red fruits and herbal hints. The flavor is complex with notes of bright fruit, lively acidity and a pleasant finish.
Pairs well with fresh egg pastas, risottos, white meats, red meats, venison and cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pajè reveals a medium-dark appearance with purple and redcurrants, heritage rose and spicy cardamom. A pretty note of iron ore or metallic mineral is folded within. Pajè brings us an accessible profile with silky, resolved tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
Pajé always represents the lifted, spritely wine within the Riserva lineup of Produttori. This vintage holds true to that but with a slightly darker note on the nose. Aroma of crushed raspberries mixed with black cherries, fresh bay leaf and sweet spice. The first sip causes the head to spin with glee as wild berries, dried roses and sage leap forward quickly tamed by fine tannins and vibrant acidity, acting more as headmasters, telling everyone to wait a bit more to show their goods.
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James Suckling
Plentiful fruit character on the nose with dried cherries and potpourri. The tannins are quite sticky on the palate, with a medium body, refreshing acidity and warming alcohol. Focused with licorice notes on the finish.
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Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pajè is full of character. Strong mineral, savory and floral notes jump out of the glass, before veins of tannin make themselves felt on the palate. A powerful, young Barbaresco, the Pajè is going to need a number of years to come into its own. That said, all of its signatures are very much present.
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Wine Spectator
Elegant and expressive, this rose-, strawberry- and cherry-flavored red is harmonious and charming. Mineral and wild herb flavors add grace notes as the finish persists with a mix of fruit and mineral.
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.