Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Here’s a very pretty Barbaresco confidently placed in floral territory, where violets are joined by sour cherries and bright citrus. The medium-to full-bodied palate is tightly knit, but poised to deliver power as it unwinds through compressed citrus and blue fruit. Drink from 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Barbaresco Rizzi is the most balanced wine in this series. The other wines feel a bit too ripe in my opinion, even in this 2016 vintage. This wine offers a soft and delicate side that is expressed with sweet fruit, spice, licorice and tar. This wine is firm and ultimately the most elegant. It could be served right away with a dish of veal-filled agnolotti.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Wild berry, menthol, herb and leather aromas take center stage along with star anise. The tightly wound palate reflects the nose, showing red cherry, pomegranate, licorice and tobacco alongside fine-grained tannins and racy acidity that create a firm finish.
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.