TN: 2012 Produttori del Barbaresco - Barbaresco (Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco)

2012 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (3/6/2018)
– 1st glass poured approx. 45 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over two days –

NOSE: on Day 1, there was a cherry aroma, but it was seated behind an earthy, muddled mess; hints of cranberry and orange peel emerged after a couple hours, but I was still left wondering what was going on with this wine; on Day 2, things had cleared-up considerably, leading me to believe this wine needs further cellaring to show well.

BODY: garnet color of medium depth; slight signs of age at the edges; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: Day 1: aggressive tannins mask the fruit; medium acidity; not particularly enjoyable within 2 hours of opening; needs more air? time? shut-down right now? pruney cherry pit after 3 hours open. Hold, I suppose, seeing as how this brings very little pleasure right now. Day 2: much better today — not so muddy/earthy; hints of mineral and bitter florals poke through the medium-light cherry flavor; tobacco; still quite tannic today; absolutely must Hold right now.

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Thanks for the notes. Were these drunk with food or on their own?

It was a weekday, so it must have been with food, but I don’t recall the cuisine. I typically approach weekday/night wines like this: open wine and assess before any food hits my palate; enjoy with food; continue to observe and jot any relevant notes post-meal. Unless the food drastically makes a difference one way or another, I don’t comment on the with-food performance. Here, I didn’t comment on how it did with food, so I have to assume the introduction of food to the situation made no meaningful difference to me. Air exposure, however, clearly made a big difference, as evidenced by the nice Day 2 showing. I have one more bottle, and will probably sock it away for at least another 3 years; I bet it would do fine with more time than that, however.

Thanks for the note Brian. I tried this wine twice a couple months back and decided to leave my other bottles alone until at least 2022.

Hit the coupons at Total Wine at the right time and you can get these for like $22. [berserker.gif]

I just asked about food because tannic young wines, and nebbiolo, in particular, often show much better with food.

Even better if you are eating that food in Torino.

That is an opinion I agree with.

I’ve had two bottles of the 12 in the past 9 months and the most recent one showed signs of shutting down, I decided to mark these as a hold till 2022. I had grabbed a 6 of the 2014 from Total Wine and then the next week I figured why not order another 6, and this time they were 2012s! Random but welcome.

I have a bottle of this and appreciate the look-in, Brian. I will let it sleep.

Mike

2012 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (5/17/2021)
– decanted 45 min before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over a few hours –

NOSE: very light and a touch high-toned; reserved, bright strawberry aroma; dandelion flower.

BODY: ruby color, with bricking throughout; color is of medium-light depth; clear; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: medium+ to high acidity; alc. is a bit spiky and can be tasted a little; still some drying tannins; light, juicy, red berries; a touch dry and leafy; pleasantly tertiary — autumnal, earthy, leathery; seems best to Drink Now and over the near term; it is pleasant now; Ash thought it “O.K… A bit overripe and dry.”; I like it a bit more, but wouldn’t buy more if I could.

50, 5, 12, 14, 7 = (88 pts.)

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Funny. I brought one home from the cellar to see how they are doing about a month ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t a bit closed right now though.

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Sounds like you have multiple bottles. Get into that one you brought home and let us know what you think! My impression was that there’s not a whole lot there to sit back on.