By Raymond Chan
It was a
great pleasure to host Aldo Vacca, the managing director of Produttori del
Barbaresco in a presentation of his 2005 Riserva wines. The affinity of Barbaresco and the Nebbiolo
grape is much closer to the New
Zealand wine drinker than is
recognised. For us in New Zealand, the main red is Pinot Noir, which
has as its model, the wines of Burgundy. Both Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir are lighter
coloured wines that are relatively restrained in character, but share a
florality and perfume that is easily swamped by excess winemaker input. Both varieties perform well with low yields
and both varieties have wines that can evolve in bottle to show wonderful
earth, game and forest complexities. Of
course the two varieties differ, Nebbiolo wines possessing considerably more
tannin and acidity, and the flavour profile more savoury. But significantly, both varieties are superb
at expressing site, growing conditions and terroir. It is noteworthy that of the Barbaresco and
Barolo areas of Piedmont share the marked expression of site individuality with
the likes of Burgundy. And the top wines of both Piedmont and Burgundy are based on
limestone soils with a noteworthy calcareous component.
In comparing
Barolo with Barbaresco, Aldo Vacca acknowledged the classic ‘tar and roses’
description for the former, proffering ‘liquorice and violets’ for the
latter. Modern viticulture and
vinification has moderated the heaviness of the wines of the past and
increasingly featured cleanliness and fruit.
The analogy of Barolo being the ‘King’ and Barbaresco the ‘Queen’ is
apt.
The
Produttori del Barbaresco, founded in 1958, has 56 members and over 100 ha of
Nebbiolo, much of it in premium vineyard sites.
The Prodittori has an extremely high reputation and has been described
as the best wine co-operative in the world.
It accounts for approximately 18% of the total Barbaresco production. In its portfolio, besides a Nebbiolo Langhe
and Barbaresco DOCG, there are bottlings of nine single vineyard Riservas,
which have proven to offer extraordinary quality and value. The wines are textbook traditional examples,
vinification involving fermentation in stainless steel at 30°C and 24 days on
skins. Bottling occurs after 20 months
aging in large oak for the Barbaresco DOCG and 36 months for the Riserva wines. The wines are labelled at 14.0% alc.
The trend
experienced in Barbaresco over the last couple of decades is for more
consistent ripening, significantly attributable to the effects of global
warming, according to Aldo Vacca. This
has been extremely beneficial for grape-growing, winemaking and marketing. 2005 follows the extremely well-regarded 2004
vintage and is similar in the more elegant, typical and ‘straight down the
line’ style. Aldo rates the two vintages
equally in quality and sees the 2005s just a littlie more fruit expressive,
while the 2004s show tighter tannin extraction.
(Click here for my review of the 2004 Riservas.) The 2006 wines showed riper, plumper,
fruit-forward characters. No single vineyard Riservas were bottled in 2006 due
to their more homogeneous nature.
This tasting
featured the 2005 Riserva wines and with Aldo Vacca’s commentary, a wonderful
experience of understanding more about site and expression was had by the
attendees. All of the wines were pale
garnet with shades of ruby nuances. They
possessed restraint of style with considerable extraction and acidity, making
them more suited to accompanying textural meat and robust food dishes. All will age 10-15 years easily. Here are my notes and scores on the wines
tasted, in the order as preferred by Aldo Vacca. The Riserva wines have nick-names and these
are noted:
Flight One: Introductory Barbaresco and the
‘Lighter’ Riservas
This flight
began with the Barbaresco DOCG 2006 as the scene-setter, followed by the four
Riservas from sites on the ridge south of the town of Barbaresco, where the lighter soil results in
wines of slightly lighter constitution.
The Produttori del Barbaresco DOCG 2006 (17.5-/20), an
assemblage of different sites, was pale ruby-garnet in colour with an elegant
nose of bright red fruits with earth and spice notes. Hints of plum rather than florals here. The palate was full, solid and rounded with density. Accessible now by way of the suppleness, fine
extraction and gentle, sweet fruitiness, and textbook, elegant Barbaresco. Approx. 17,000 cases made. First of the single vineyard Riservas was the
Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva ‘Pora’
2005 (17.5+/20), called the ‘Dolce Vita’ wine, from the 7.2 ha south-southwest
Pora site, this was garnet-red with orange on edge. Very fine and elegantly expressed on the
bouquet, quite tight still. Palate
reflecting the nose, with very fine features, flowery tannins and light fruit
characters tending towards a firmness and austerity. However, a long finish. This will develop ethereal notes. 1,100 cases made. Next was the Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva ‘ Rio
Sordo’ 2005 (18.0+/20), called the ‘Silky One’, from a 4.6 ha site with a
south-west exposure. Pale garnet red,
this had a very intense nose, with lovely floral aromatics and warm spice
notes. On palate, this had rich fruit
with some sweetness, providing some density.
Though there is good tannin grip, this has a softness, adding to the
richness and more up-front character.
Medium length on the finish here.
830 cases made. This was followed
by the Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva
‘Asili’ 2005 (18.5-/20), named ‘A World of its Own’ from a 3.0 ha site with
a southerly orientation. Soft-hued
red-garnet, this was full of dark cherry fruit aromas with red earth notes,
slightly lifted, but quite solid in expression.
Showing in a robust style with richness and full-body, this had florals
and tar notes on a well-structured palate.
1,100 cases made. Final wine in
this flight was the Produttori del
Barbaresco Riserva ‘Pajè’ 2005 (19.0-/20), described as ‘Evergreen’, from a
southwest-west oriented 2.5 ha site.
Pale hued garnet-red, a touch of VA provided lift to the fragrance of
bright red fruits and florals. Very
fine-grained and elegantly structured, this had beautiful floral-fruit
characters on a seamless, well-proportioned palate with vitality. Only 830 cases made. Fifth equal preferred of the Riserva wines
for the group of tasters.
Flight Two: The ‘More Weighty’ Riservas
This group of
Riserva wines was based on fruit from sites on the north to south running ridge,
east of the town of Barbaresco,
on more compact soils. These wines are
slightly weightier than the previous four and show more expression as
well. First was the Produttori de Barbaresco Riserv