Back in June I had the great opportunity to visit the Produttori del Barbaresco and taste a wide range of wines with Aldo Vacca. I have to be totally honest and mention that a lot of what he said was eerily similar to what he said on Levi Dalton’s ‘I’ll Drink to That’ podcast, but we did get a few extra nuggets, and the tasting was fantastic. Ran into some fellow online wine geeks, as by pure chance Howard Davis, Thierry Jutel, Andrew Harrison and Mark St Clair from New Zealand were scheduled for the same visit! We all traveled half way to meet in the middle in Italy.
After a fun but relatively standard tour (plus some info on trellising Nebbiolo), we had the chance to do a tank tasting of the 2017 Pora Riserva which showed a ton of promise. I did not take notes on it (I forgot my notebook!!), but it was excellent, and I will be seeking out the 2017 Riservas when they are released years from now.
Up in the tasting area we were presented with three as yet unlabeled bottles, and three empty glasses. Also let us know we would be tasting the just bottled (in May 2018) 2014 Riservas from Pora, Ovello and Montestefano. I like to think I know most of the Produttori wines reasonable well (exceptions being Paje and Montefico), and the wines performed largely as I would have expected. The Pora was the most open, with effusive floral aromatics. It was also the most elegant on the palate, though still showing a rough, tannic edge. The Ovello was notably deeper, showing more red and black fruit than floral tones. It was more of a medium to full bodied wine, with even more aggressive tannins. Finally the Montestefano was certainly showing its early fruit, but was also closed up on the palate, and very tannic.
Well that was fun…oh…wait…he’s got more bottles…
It was vertical time, as Also Vacca opened two additional vintages of Ovello, the 2013 and the 2011. The 2013 Ovello showed more open than the 2014, but I sensed that was largely due to its greater concentration. It had the same fruit and floral signature, but also earth and cinnamon tones that were captivating. The 2011 Ovello was the first wine with any hint of development, as it had a greater depth of spice and the floral tones were coming back. The 2011 also showed a great deal of palate richness, overcoming the back end tannins.
But wait there’s more…
Vacca had opened a deep vertical of Ovello the prior day for the team, and had recorked the bottles to serve to us. The 24 hours of air was no issue at all, and in fact likely helped the wines to show very well in our tasting.
The 2009 Ovello displayed a bit of brown at the rim, and appeared to be developing faster that all of the other vintages. The aromatics turned more towards dried flowers, as well as a meaty edge. It seemed like an outlier. The 2008 Ovello was still young, but perfectly formed and with great balance. It seemed like the 2013, but with some of the rough edges sanded off. Maybe 3-5 more years might get it into prime drinking form. The 2007 Ovello was almost all the way there, with amazing aromatics that added distinct fir tree and herb tones to the red fruit, earth and floral “standard” Ovello elements. I could easily drink the 2007 now, but there’s no reason to hurry. Drink the 2009 first!
We then proceeded to what we thought were the last wines of the tasting. The 2005 Ovello was in a fantastic place. It still showed a reasonable amount of structure, but the complexity of the aromatics and palate made it a pleasure to drink. It was the most “ready” wine of the day. The 2004 Ovello was part of a continuum with the 2013 and 2008. It was more evolved, but not quite as ready as the 2005. It will be there soon, just not quite yet. Vacca said drink it up over the next 4-5 years. No argument from me.
Finally, as an afterthought we had the 2015 Barbaresco, which showed a great deal of ripeness, almost to the degree of candied fruit. It was too easy to drink, especially after the Riservas.
I can only sum up as amazing day, amazing visit, and amazing wines.