WTN: 2010 Produttori and 2012 Descombes Morgon VV

It's my 3rd or 4th bottle of the 2010 Produttori Barbaresco and I think I'm understanding the way forward. Give it more air than I thought it needed, and finish it while still at the dinner table! If I do those two things, it has been an absolute delight. Nothing too special but a fine rendition of young Barbaresco. And are people really planning to age this bottling?

I've also been enjoying the 2012 Descombes Morgon VV. Elegant, flavorful and delicate. I've always been a big Descombes fan and this does not disappoint.

I have the Produttori 2010 scheduled for 2018 consumption. Too long?

[David M. Bueker]

I have never seen a Produttori wine that could not stand up to aging for many years.

Your note implies it falls apart after a few hours. Has it done so in your experience?

I have never seen a Produttori wine that could not stand up to aging for many years.

Your note implies it falls apart after a few hours. Has it done so in your experience?

No, not at all. My comment about finishing it at the dinner table just meant that its charms radically diminish when food is no longer in the equation.

And I was wondering what to expect in terms of aging upside from this wine, given that it's perhaps not the most complex Produttori. Of course I don't have the most experience with the wines, and do realize that it has all the declassified wine, so maybe that means it has even more aging upside? I don't know. Hence the questions.

[David M. Bueker]

I have not had the 2010, but given it is so new I would not expect much complexity...yet. How's the structural balance?

As for drinking the wine with food, I have only found one recent vintage that was particularly friendly on its own, the 2007.

How's the structural balance?

I'm no expert at evaluating young nebbiolo but difficult to say it's balanced right now since the acid and tannins are so fierce. I can enjoy the wine, because those aren't deal breakers for me, and because the flavors and aromas are so pleasing. But it's a tough genre, in more ways than one!

FWIW, a Disorderly response is very positive about the wine and says it's 'a fine rendition of Nebbiolo d'Alba no matter what the label says', but has no intention of aging any.

I guess everyone's aging calculus is different.

[David M. Bueker]

I won't be laying down cases of this wine, largely because I have plenty of the Riservas from other vintages. A couple of bottles are likely to get put away for posterity/vertical purposes.