WTN: 1996 Produttori Barbaresco Rio Sordo

Saturday night, I had a fabulous dinner at Felidia in NYC. I checked out the winelist the day before, and found this Barbaresco in addition to a few backups.

It was darker than I expected with a slight brickish hue. Floral and earthy aromas, and on the palate, was a mix of floral, leather, and cherry, with dark cherries showing stronger on the lovely finish. It was drinking beautifully - tannins were soft and fruit was ripe, but in the background.

A few months ago, I opened the basic 1996 Produttori Barbaresco that I brought back from Piemonte, which was also terrific, but the Rio Sordo had more oomph and complexity. It was also an incredible match to the delicious mushroom risotto and the roast duck.
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Diane
This post couldn't go by without a response, as I'm always happy to see Barbaresco tasting notes and doubly so from the Produttori. It seems the 96s are indeed emerging from slumber nicely - I had feared/anticipated a sullen decade where broaching them would deliver grumpy teenager-like responses. I'm glad to have been wrong and will have to think about dragging our bottle of their Montefico out in the next few years.

regards

Ian

Ian - I'm glad you appreciated the note. We don't see too many notes on Barolo and Barbaresco and I love these wines. I have yet to open any of my 1996 Barolo, but the 2 Produttori Barbaresco have been very enjoyable.

thanks for the note. No Rio Sordo, but I have a couple of the Montestefano. May try one soon based on this note

I believe the Rio Sordo is an earlier drinking wine, so keep that in mind if you open the Montestefano.

[David M. Bueker]

I have some Mocagatta (sp?), so perhaps an offline Dale?

I have some Mocagatta (sp?), so perhaps an offline Dale?

... or even an open mike on Barbaresco single vineyard wines? (Thinking single vineyard to bring in other producers bottlings - but especially thinking of those where the produttori also produce a wine from that vineyard - e.g. Cantina del Pino 'Ovello' or various producers with some of the Rabaja vineyard).

Apart from the Montestefano (it appears I had this confused with the Montefico) I've got Produttoris: Pora (1999 & 2000), Rabaja (1999) and Rio Sordo (2001), plus Cantina del Pino Ovello (1998 & 1999)

Whilst I've got many of these pencilled in for more sleep, it would seem churlish not to crack one or two in the name of an open mike

Of course nothing to stop us organising the open mike around the timing of Dale & David meeting up for an offline, as that would offer multiple views on the same bottles!

regards

Ian

Ian

I opened one of the 96 Pora recently and it is drinking beautifully. It is the first one from the case so I will be interested to see how they develop. Everyone seems to indicate that these wines will go for quite some time.

Mark