2019 Barbaresco Montestefano

The 2019 Barbaresco Montestefano is still all acid, tannin and youthful brawn. Certainly, next to the 2020 it is far more austere in bearing. Readers will have to be patient with the 2019, as it still needs time. Cedar, pipe tobacco, dried herbs and incense all run through this super-classic Barbaresco. As always, fruit is in the background while the more secondary notes that develop with extended time in barrel are the main stylistic signatures. This is as classic as classic gets.

Just bottled about a month before my visit, the 2019 Barbaresco Montestefano immediately shows the pedigree of the year in its breadth and overall substance. Aromatically it is quite closed, but that is not at all surprising. Behind that, there is good depth and plenty of character. As always, the Barbaresco here has that gently oxidative character that is the house signature.