Insights from a tasting of Produttori del Barbaresco

[David M. Bueker]

My tasting group met last night for our monthly blind tasting. In a bit of a switch it was held at a restaurant with a full meal served while we tasted the wines, versus our normal process of in someone's home with some cheese/bread.

After a warm up bottle of Fattoria le Pupille Morellino di Scansano (good wine) we entered into the main event. The first wine was fairly open, with lots of red fruit and a little bit of tannin structure. The second (they were served in pairs) showed a much stronger backbone and greater depth, while still retaining the dark fuit and adding a floral element along with some tar.

Wines 3-7 (we'll get to 8 in a bit) were all quite tannic, with more of the dark red fruit, floral and some spice as well (wine 6 was very spicy). In the case of 3-7 they were significantly mroe expressive on the palate than they were in the nose, with ony wine 3 really showing a lot on the nose.

It was some time around wine 5 or 6 that I mentioned to the people next to me that all of the wines seemed to share many characteristics, with the varietal character and winemaking seeming virtually identical to me. I turned to our host at the end of the table and whispered the word "Produttori" to him. His visibly disgusted facial expression told the tale.

So it turned out that wines 1-7 were all from the Produttori del Barbaresco.

2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe
2006 Produttori del Barbaresco 'Normale' (lot 10 155)
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Pora'
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Ovello'
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Asili'
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Moccagatta'
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Montestefano'

I have all of the Riservas in the cellar, and will be keeping my hands off for at least 5 more years. They were all quite tannic and almost all (save the 'Pora') quite ungiving on the nose. It took work to coax out the aromatics (even allowing for my less than ideal olfactory sense). The 2006 'Normale' was very good, though it was also more brutish than its single vineyard counterparts. It was from one of the lots that had Riserva juice added in, but having now had multiple versions of the 2006 'Normale' I don't see any big change in the performance of the later bottlings.

As for wine 8, it was huge and wildly expressive in comparison to wines 1-7. It was clearly not part of the same crowd, but in the context of the tasting it was impossible to guess what it might be. It turned out to be the 2005 Bouchard Pere & Fils Le Corton, and wow what a wine it was. It was very ripe & fruity (some even said 'porty' though I did not agree) and showed no trace of the tannin level of the Barbarescos. So if you think Corton is hard and ungiving, drink it after young Barbaresco!

Some impressive nose & palate work there David. Those Produttoris definitely have legs! I brought a 1982 Santo Stefano to a restaurant earlier this year and it was great, my observation at the time "The Barbaresco was stellar! Lovely aged mellow elegant Italian red! ".
I used to drink a wine simply called Le Pupille back in the 1980's and recently found a bottle in a corner of my cellar with a very good fill. It will be interesting to see if it's still alive. Used to cost around $4.

So that's what I have to do to enjoy my 2005 Bouchard Le Corton.

Now I know not to even think about my 2004 Mocaggatta and I will consider doing the same with the 2004 Montefico. The one thing I have learned about Barbaresco and Barolo is that when they are shut down, they are virtually impenetrable.

[David M. Bueker]

And these wines were (mostly) impenetrable.

By the way, we also had a 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja, but it was slotted after the Corton & so ended up seeming like sand paper across my tongue.

The 2001 "Normale" is only just now drinking well, in my opinion. As for the 2005 "Montestefano" we bought in the last year from CSW, just forget about them, I figure.

Nice notes. I like/love PdB, but a shame to drink these so young. Good job at spotting it.

[David M. Bueker]

I know Dale. I was glad these were not my bottles.

David,
Your post reminded me to that I have some PdB that I had planned to drink in a year or so. Mine are the 96 Asili Riserva, 96 Pora Riserva, and the 97 Montestefano Riserva. I will keep your notes and compare mine...all in the name of research, of course.

Thanks!
JB

[David M. Bueker]

Julia,

Let fly on that '97. The '97s are drinking quite well.

Thanks for the tip! Will do sooner than later.

Cheers!
JB

David,

has Aldo Vacca confirmed that there are different wines under the different lot numbers of the '06 Barbaresco?

yes, though it seems likely that all in US has riserva. There are certain lots that purportedly have more, but that is not confirmed.

http://dobianchi.com/2010/06/04/2006-pr ... ldo-vacca/

http://produttoridelbarbaresco.wordpres ... ification/

Thanks, Dale. Fascinating.

David - Thank you for the writeup. I haven't tried any of the 2004 Riservas since a local tasting with Aldo Vacca back in 2009. These are certainly wines for the long haul, as demonstrated by the 1981 "regular" Barbaresco that Aldo poured then, which was still drinking nicely.

The Produttori Langhe Nebbiolo is always a good value.