2000 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (8/4/2019)
The last Produtorri mag I opened was a major disappointment. So hopes were high that this would be a good bottle. This was gorgeous from the start. The always welcomed notes of flowers and tar were prominent on the nose. This wine was medium bodied, very pretty, and elegant at this point in its life. The 2000 vintage in piedmont was a warm vintage and ripe fruit was definitely upfront on this one. Very prominent sweet cherry and leather notes on the palate with fine tannins. It had a remarkably beautiful and long finish. Don’t know if this is one for the long haul but it is very delicious right now.
19 years isn’t considered “long haul”, huh? Must be long agers. I should have started buying Produttori in my 20s! Sounds like a delicious bottle. I was actually looking into buying some of the 2013 or 2014 today. Any thoughts on which is the better vintage?
I have had bottles of their normale from the 60s and 70s that have been stellar. Just incredible QPR you get with these wines. Between ‘14/ ‘13 and depending on which bottling, I would probably pick ‘13 for my personal tastes.
Overall, 2013 was a better vintage, but 2014 was much better in Barbaresco than Barolo. Barbaresco avoided several hail and rain storms that made it a very difficult year in Barolo.
I don’t the details of the winemaking then, but the techniques are quite traditional now. I doubt they had temp-controlled fermentation tanks then, which give the winemaker a lot more control at a critical stage.
I can’t be sure, but it’s well documented that Aldo Vacca sees the wines as having a shorter drinking window than we traditionally think of for those wines from the 60s and 70s. My own gut feel is that yes, there is a nod to earlier drinkability at the expense of longevity, but that this isn’t an extreme transition. This may be as much down to climate / clones as winemaking / ripeness.
Possibly in support of Vacca’s observation, this from a few weeks ago:
"2000 Dante Rivetti Barbaresco Bricco Riserva
This was a surprise to me, though not in a bad way. The colour and aromatics all speak of a mature wine. That is echoed initially on the palate, where some very intriguing tertiary earth and cocoa tones have built themselves in. What was interesting is that 2 days later, it had actually gained liveliness and had much more red fruit in the palate component. The only thing I’m sure about is that I should go and get another bottle or two of this if I can."