Winemaker Notes
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Rio Sordo Riserva is a medium body wine with intense mineral and spicy aromas, balanced ripe tannins and a long, elegant finish.
Try with pasta dishes, risotto and white and red meat.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
After the demure expressions from Pora and Pajè comes this little thoroughbred. In our lineup of Produttori del Barbaresco wines, starting with the most delicate Riservas and ending with the most powerful, the pace and intensity of the tasting steps up with the 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo. This is a rich wine with dark fruit flavors that extend over a linear and tight approach. You notice the depth and complexity of the fruit and the fine chalky tannins.
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James Suckling
Pale ruby color with an amazingly restrained character and leafy lightness. Very elegant, with licorice, sweet violet, mineral, cherry pit and peach peel flavors. Over this layered complexity the wine is firm, with dusty tannins, but velvety and ripe. A sticky finish is balanced by a full body and crisp acidity.
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Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo is quite deep in this vintage, with notable depth in its dark-toned fruit. This is an especially powerful Rio Sordo that is still coming together. Its intensity is palpable, even if I see less of the finesse that I associate with wines from this site. Today, all of the wine's energy is directed inwards.
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Wine Spectator
This red starts out on the opulent side, featuring cherry, raspberry, mint and iron flavors, before the beefy tannins take over midpalate, informing the long, gripping finish. Yet this remains vibrant and long, just needs time to shed its tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
Opening with aromas of potting soil, green herbs and savory spices, this Barbaresco pulls on the heartstrings of those looking for the earthier side of wine. Subtle hints of black raspberry jam and rosebud develop with time, but the wine stays rooted in its earthy delights. Gripping and firm, the tannins immediately take control of the palate while notes of sour cherry, thyme, rosemary and crushed chalk weave in and out of the tannic grip. Small tart berries find themselves at the finish with a pop of acidity and freshness.
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.