2013 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Deep impenetrable red. Lifted aromatics. Rose petals, tar, wet river gravel, black tea, black cherries and other dark fruit. On palate, relatively closed and unresolved. Very young, obviously. But very fine and well balanced. Ultra fine grained tannins and silky texture. Bright, persistent acidity. Serious fruit weight and density. Quite dry and austere at its core. Black tea, minerals and a real dark fruit character. Excellent. It needs 5-10 years in the cellar, I’d think.
Taking into account that this is vintage 2013, suggesting only 5 years more of aging seems to be quite an understatement. With my experience on Produttori, their normale bottlings from great vintages need at least 10 years before they start to strut their stuff, Riservas usually 5-10 years more.
If the wine is very closed, unresolved and austere now, it will most likely be the same in 5 years, perhaps even after 10.
Nevertheless, thanks for the nicely descriptive TN, I probably need to stash some of these in my hoard.
distributors around me are just starting to get an inkling for how many of these they will be allocated. I’m hoping to snag just about as many as I can
Thank you for the note…it’s funny but I think we’ve finally reached a spot where retailers are now almost forced to pre-sell these wines as a part of their business model. In Maine the distributors want the retailer to pay for the wine sometimes as much as a year in advance to order these wines. So the retailer must then pre-sell the wines in order to not have a ton of $ tied up in stock that has not arrived…sad to see but I think we’re probably only a decade or so away from these wines being as hard to get as other “gems” from the region.
Do you mind briefly summarizing the advice (could be hard to find in 2:30 hrs of audio)? I suppose to some extent it is a matter of preference as well.
I think Vacca’s comment was a general one for a typical Riserva (if indeed there is such a thing). Perhaps this vintage will take longer to come around? I have a few of these, won’t open them for at least a decade. Still, happy to hear about how they are progressing (thanks Howard!).
The aging curve of the PdB riservas are mysterious to me. I tried two different 2000 riservas at a dinner in 2015 and both were hard and charmless on day 1 even with a good decant. I took the leftovers of my bottle home and it showed great on day 2.
Must be that there’s no simple generalization across years, that it’s (mostly) a vintage specific thing?
Sorry I have zero experience with 2000 Riservas but some with 2001s. 2001 Riservas are notoriously backward (even today). Today, I would rather drink some 2007s than 2001s.
In a word summary, I think of the PdB Riserva vintages as:
2001: structured
2004: structured
2005: structured
2007: accessible
2008: structured
2009: accessible
2011: accessible
2013 and 2014: not yet enough data to judge but probably on the more structured side.
This is a commonly expressed view by wine people in Piemonte. Besides Aldo I’ve heard wine people like Fabio Alessandria and Alessio Cighetti say although US and European clients like their Nebbiolos with 20+ years age they prefer them with ‘more fruit’ or more in the 6-10 year range.
Agreed.
Perhaps it’s as much for their own benefit that the wines of the region have become more approachable. I’d always assumed it was solely about making the wines softer on release to appeal to a wider audience, but maybe they’re just making wines more in a style they like themselves?
Ian, and perhaps it’s partly climate change? More warmer, earlier approachable vintages like 2009 and 2011? I’ve heard Aldo say for example that climate change over the last 10-15 years has been a positive for the Pajore site, in terms of making the wines riper and more accessible …
I had this wine as one of the more structured and darker fruited of the reservas such as Montestefano or Montefico. The 2013s I have tasted both in Barbaresco and Barolo have shown a similar darker fruit spectrum. It will be interesting to see how they evolve. Looking forward to the 14s.
Howard
Yes certainly a possibility, though seeing what the new generation of Aussie winemakers are achieving in terms of lower alc% styles, it shows that if there is a will to mitigate the effects, there is a way. However that sounds like Aldo is perfectly happy with the increased ripeness and no need to adjust the viticulture to compensate for it.
Regards
Ian