2011 Barbaresco

The delicious 2011 Barbaresco is a very well-integrated and balanced wine that shows an impressive level of elegance. Soft oak spice is fused with red berry fruit and balsam herb. You feel some of the heat of the vintage in the ripeness of the fruit, but those qualities never subtract from the wine's overall harmony. Soft fruit flavors are woven between tight tannins and long persistence. ||Produttori del Barbaresco always offers one of the most exciting tastings of the year. This cooperative winery decided not to make single-vineyard expressions in 2010 and all the fruit went into the base 2010 Barbaresco instead. Managing Director Aldo Vacca tells me that the estate philosophy is to produce all nine vineyard expressions, or none at all. In fact, the 2002, 2003 and 2006 vintages were skipped over. Vacca explains that although the 2010 vintage was excellent in the Barolo appellation, he considered the mouthfeel to be too thin and watery for the production of great Barbaresco. Because the 2010 vintage saw humid conditions, the grapes swelled before harvest leading to wines with less structure and persistence. In general, Produttori del Barbaresco’s vineyard wines represent only 30 percent of the entire production, although some 70 percent of the cooperative’s vineyard holdings are located in single-vineyard cru designations. In increasing order of power and structure, the 2009 Riserva single vineyard expressions I tasted are: Pora, Pajè, Ovello, Asili, Rio Sordo, Montefico, Muncagota, Rabajà and Montestefano. eRobertParker.com.June, 2015