Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco 2012 DOCG
$33.99 at Crush Wine & Spirits in Bryant, Arkansas
Wine Spectator – 93 points
Robert Parker – 93 points
Wine Enthusiast – 90 points
100% Nebbiolo, fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged for 24 months in large neutral Slovenian oak barrels. 26 thousand cases made from this vintage.
Bright and deep mahogany color. Aromas of cinnamon, peppers, black cherries, truffles, methol, and violets. On the palate, elegant mouthfeel with firm tannins balanced with flavors of black fruits, smoke, leather, herbs, spice, rose petals, and tobacco. Long finish.
Produttori del Barbaresco is a cooperative of grape growers whose harvests are brought to the Produttori winery facility where the wine is made by the winemaking staff. Produttori del Barbaresco was founded in 1958 by the priest of the village of Barbaresco, Don Fiorino Marengo, because he realized that the only way small vineyard properties could survive was by joining forces. He gathered 19 small growers to establish the cooperative. In its early years when they made the first three vintages in the church basement, Produttori del Barbaresco has grown to 52 members with 250 acres of Nebbiolo vineyards in the entire Barbaresco village appellation (the entire Barbaresco appellation includes three more neighboring villages – Neive, Treiso, and San Rocco – and surrounding lands) and an annual production of 500 thousand bottles. Produttori del Barbaresco’s vineyards amount to almost one-sixth of the vineyards of the area. It is the largest producer of Barbaresco wine.
Produttori del Barbaresco has played a key role in elevating the quality level of Barbaresco over the decades. The winery produces 11 wine labels: a simpler Nebbiolo Langhe region which comes from the hills south and east of the Tanaro River in the Cuneo province; a Barbaresco Nebbiolo blend from several vineyards – which is the wine being written about here; and nine single-vineyard wines produced in only in premier vintages – Asili, Rabajà, Pora, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajè, Montefico, Muncagota (Moccagatta), and Rio Sordo.
What contributed to this 2012 blend’s quality was the fact that the winery’s winemaker decided that the vintage, although a very good crop of rich grapes, the harvest did not quite make it to the level expected to justify making single-vineyard wines. So all the juice normally reserved for those wines was put into this bottling of Nebbiolo multi-village blend.
Aldo Vacca, the managing director of Produttori del Barbaresco, has been leading the winemaking team since 1998. He has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience. He received his formal winemaking training from the University of California Davis enology program. He was an assistant to Angelo Gaja for 15 years. (The Gaja family was the first winery to bring notice of the Nebbiolo grape’s quality potential throughout the entire four-village appellation.) Vacca also comes from a family of winemakers. His great grandfather, Giuseppe Vacca, was one of the nine founding members of the very first attempt for a winery co-op founded in 1898. It later shut down in 1925. Aldo’s father, Celestino, was one of the architects to re-found the present co-op in 1958.
Me with Aldo Vacca in Barbaresco
Additional facts about Nebbiolo:
Known for its complex aromatic quality, Nebbiolo is responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world. It is the premier grape of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area as well as in other northern regions. It is at its best in the Piedmontese villages areas of Barolo and Barbaresco.
Barbaresco wines are a more elegant version of Nebbiolo and Barolo is a bolder version. One factor contributing to the different styles is the fact that Barbaresco is more exposed to the cool air coming from the Tanaro River as opposed to Barolo which has hills between the river and its vineyards.
Barbaresco is only one-third the size of Barolo.