Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with fresh egg pastas, risottos, white meats, redmeats, venison and cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I had tasted this vintage last year as a barrel sample. Now a fully complete wine, the 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Pora did not disappoint, and even jumped up a few points. The Riserva Pora opens to dark fruit intensity with a slightly more accessible quality. Those lovely floral tones of lavender and violet are ever present. After having spent three years in oak and another year in the bottle, this wine offers a looser mouthfeel in terms of tannic structure, making it a bit more open and immediate in personality. You could uncork this bottle in 2020 if you just can't wait, but ideally, it is meant for the longer haul.
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Wine Enthusiast
Menthol, woodland-berry and crushed herb aromas slowly take shape on this fragrant red. The savory palate doles out juicy Morello cherry, cranberry and licorice while bright acidity and polished tannins provide seamless support. Drink through 2029.
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Decanter
Although Pora is a relatively low-elevation site and can produce broad wines, Produttori's growers own almost half the cru, so they can select the best grapes for this Riserva. It's beautifully perfumed, with pure raspberry fruit. The palate is streamlined and poised, with a sleek texture and a remarkable purity of flavour, yet it doesn't lack structure and its fine acidity gives it drive and persistence. Drinking Window 2019 - 2032
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Wine Spectator
Round and supple, exuding cherry, berry, licorice, eucalyptus and tar flavors. Harmonious and well-built, with a long aftertaste of menthol. Best from 2021 through 2038.
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.