2018 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco DOCG, Piedmont, Italy
ABOUT THIS WINE
The 2018 Barbaresco is an attractive, open knit wine to drink now and over the next 10-15 years, maybe more. In 2018 the Produttori did not bottle their Riservas. Instead, all of the best lots of those grapes went into the straight Barbaresco bottling, another in a long string of successes from this historic house.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
The Produttori was founded in the crushing poverty of the 1950s, when the parish priest organized 19 struggling growers to make wine communally. With time, the Produttori grew to about sixty membersāowning the lionās share of the greatest vineyards.
āThere are few producers making Barbaresco in the same class as the wines of the Produttori, but none who surpasses them.ā - Sheldon Wasserman
The Produttori still uses traditional methods: an 18 to 21-day primary fermentation with aging for up to three years in botti. Such techniques yield gloriously transparent wines, affording a unique opportunity to explore the regionās finest terroirs.
The Produttoriās nine crus or vineyards lie on steep slopes composed of the classic firm clay and limestone marl of the Langhe. Those from the northernmost chain of hillsāOvello, Montefico and Montestefanoāhave a higher clay content and are known for their rich earthy, meaty flavors, full body and firm structure.
To the south are PajĆ© and Moccagatta, noted for their intensity and elegance. Still further south is perhaps Barbarescoās greatest slope, boasting the southfacing Asili, RabajĆ and Pora. Below these three icons is the solitary southwest-facing slope of Rio Sordo, whose opulent Barbaresco exudes aromas of black cherry and truffle.
In each vintage, the juice from these crus is blended to produce a single Barbaresco which is one of the great wine values not only of Italy, but the world. But in great years, part of the production of each vineyard is set aside for an additional year of aging and for separate bottling as a single-vineyard Riserva. When these Riservas are made, they constitute the quintessential examples of Barbarescoās greatest terroirs.
Description
ABOUT THIS WINE
The 2018 Barbaresco is an attractive, open knit wine to drink now and over the next 10-15 years, maybe more. In 2018 the Produttori did not bottle their Riservas. Instead, all of the best lots of those grapes went into the straight Barbaresco bottling, another in a long string of successes from this historic house.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
The Produttori was founded in the crushing poverty of the 1950s, when the parish priest organized 19 struggling growers to make wine communally. With time, the Produttori grew to about sixty membersāowning the lionās share of the greatest vineyards.
āThere are few producers making Barbaresco in the same class as the wines of the Produttori, but none who surpasses them.ā - Sheldon Wasserman
The Produttori still uses traditional methods: an 18 to 21-day primary fermentation with aging for up to three years in botti. Such techniques yield gloriously transparent wines, affording a unique opportunity to explore the regionās finest terroirs.
The Produttoriās nine crus or vineyards lie on steep slopes composed of the classic firm clay and limestone marl of the Langhe. Those from the northernmost chain of hillsāOvello, Montefico and Montestefanoāhave a higher clay content and are known for their rich earthy, meaty flavors, full body and firm structure.
To the south are PajĆ© and Moccagatta, noted for their intensity and elegance. Still further south is perhaps Barbarescoās greatest slope, boasting the southfacing Asili, RabajĆ and Pora. Below these three icons is the solitary southwest-facing slope of Rio Sordo, whose opulent Barbaresco exudes aromas of black cherry and truffle.
In each vintage, the juice from these crus is blended to produce a single Barbaresco which is one of the great wine values not only of Italy, but the world. But in great years, part of the production of each vineyard is set aside for an additional year of aging and for separate bottling as a single-vineyard Riserva. When these Riservas are made, they constitute the quintessential examples of Barbarescoās greatest terroirs.
