2011 Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
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Tasting notes
Bruno Giacosa's 2011 Barbaresco Albesani Vigna Santo Stefano is gorgeous. Rose petals, sweet red berries and mint are some of the notes that waft from the glass. Silky, polished and quite striking, the 2011 is already open and super-expressive. Considering the warm, precocious vintage and the southern exposure of Santo Stefano, I expected a bigger, more powerful wine, but the 2011 is all about finesse. My impression is that the 2011 will offer its best drinking earlier rather than later. There is plenty to like here.
Critic scores
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Appealing, open-knit sweet cherry and raspberry. A little jammy and super perfumed on the nose but beautifully balanced by freshness and powdery tannins. Very intense and sweet finish. (WS)
This 2011 Barbaresco Albesani Vigna Santo Stefano is on the market since February and has had ample time to flesh out over the last six months of bottle aging. The wine opens to a light garnet color and immediate fruit tones that veer towards the jammy side with sun-dried strawberry and raspberry. It shows a good level of freshness and acidity to counter the warmer tendencies of the bouquet. The tannins deliver a smooth, silky quality and the wine starts to show pretty aromas of wet earth and black truffle after a few minutes in the glass. Drink: 2015-2030. It has been famously reported now that Bruno Giacosa did not make wine in 2010. If you ask his daughter Bruna why this legendary estate would skip such a promising vintage, her reply is simple: “Sometimes you need to follow your heart.” Like the 2006 vintage that was passed over because it marked the same year that Bruno suffered a massive stroke, the family has similarly private reasons for wanting to skip directly from 2009 to 2011. It’s a hole they chose to leave. In other news, the Giacosa family bought a tiny parcel in Rabaja (half an hectare) and plans to release 4,000 bottles of the inaugural vintage in 2013. Importer: Folio Fine Wine Partners, www.foliowine.com
Neive. Notably pale crimson. Complex and well balanced. Fine and refined. Pointilliste wine! Already approachable but with an undertow of sultry fruit. Seductive. (JR)
About the producer
Bruno Giacosa – now run by daughter Bruna – is a cult Nebbiolo producer, that has consistently made some of the best single-vineyard Barbaresco and Barolo from the 1960s onwards. The“red-label” Riservas are some of the finest and most collectable wines in Italy.