1980 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barbera d’Alba Conca Tre Pile- Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d’Alba (3/25/2014)
Opened with some trepidation in view of the age.
The cork broke and what I extracted smelled oxidised. I thought it was gone.
But then pouring some into a glass gave me a different impression. Not quite clean, but ok. Half an hour later I poured it for my guests and it was good. I didn’t take any TN, but the nose was quite fine and intriguing. On the palate it was quite acidic, very lean and nervous and lacking body, but not at all unpleasant. The aftertaste was wonderfully fresh and clean, however. In about an hour it gained some body and became better balanced, and was a real pleasure to drink. We all loved it. A really fantastic surprise.
Bought the bottle at an online auction a while ago for next to nothing.
Did not know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. The oldest Barbera I ever had before this one was ten years old.
By the way, ABV of this one was 12.5%, quite a contrast to the standard 14-15% you get nowadays…
I remember a bottle of the 1990 I drank in La Morra in 1996 that was lovely. I picked up an older Conce Tre Pile a few years ago and wasn’t as enamored. I always wish this and the Giacomo Conterno barbera would evolve into something really fascinating, but they always seem to remain, well, barbera – a bit four-square.
Perhaps because the lighter-bodied ones tend to be higher in acidity? Just speculation, without knowing the wines you’re thinking of.
… almost doggedly four-square, from my perspective . Barbera is probably the only Piedmontese red variety that I’m not that crazy about. Not that I have not had some very nice ones over the years. I see the attraction, but somehow I never go back for more.
I very much enjoyed young G. Conterno and G. Rinaldi Barbera, but so far didn’t have much experience with aged ones.
This one was a shot in the dark and I was very pleasantly surprised.
But perhaps to avoid giving a wrong impression I should add that part of the pleasure was the surprise and the fascination of drinking a wine that old.
It was finely nuanced and intriguing and very enjoyable on the palate (after gaining some body), but I cannot say that I was overwhelmed by the sensorial experience.
I think I’d take pelaverga over barbera most of the time, and I think there’s more upside with freisa than barbera: the best, like Vajra’s, can approach nebbiolo in complexity.
Well, I have maybe one or two bottles of Barbera in my cellar, and probably three or four cases of assorted Pelaverga, Freisa and Dolcetto. So, I guess the answer is yes.
(Edit: …and even those one or two bottles are not from the Langhe, but from Tortona. Walter Massa makes the best Barbera )
I have very little experience with Freisa and Pelaverga, which I found different and fun to drink. I wouldn’t buy them by the case, but I will certainly try to understand them more.
I personally love Barbera and am trying to get a better picture of how it ages.
Also partly intrigued by the fact that I heard Langhe growers say that with age “La Barbera baroleggia” (roughly meaning: it acts somewhat like/it becomes closer to Barolo). A playful statement for sure, but I would like to know how much truth there is to it.
Not much in my experience. I’ve never found aged barbera to gain much in the way of secondary nuance, and since they don’t have a lot of tannin (only acid) unless they’ve been aged in barrique and taken on wood tannins, they don’t “mellow” that much.
That’s not to say that a good barbera can’t be enjoyable. I just don’t find them as interesting as dolcetto, or pelaverga.
FYI, I have little experience with the fruitier, off-dry, frizzante freisa. But the best dry ones can have considerable complexity. Burlotto’s is another great example in addition to Vajra. Freisa is genetically related to nebbiolo, so it’s not surprising that it has some complexity and a lot of tannin.
I have had the 1985 Bricco d’Uccellone and the 1987 Altari Larigi at more than 20 years old and both were delicious. I would say in better shape than this wine as you describe it.
Si, certo: prima comincia a baroleggiare e poi ti aiuta addirittura a risolvere la quadratura del cerchio
Jokes aside, I think I understand what people mean when they say that this or that Gamay will suddenly start drinking almost like a Pinot Noir any day now (“pinoter”) or that this or that Barbera, altroche’ continuare a barbereggiare, will one day make you feel like you bought a near-Barolo all that time ago . But it is something of a back-handed compliment to begin with, isn’t it?
. Barbera is probably the only Piedmontese red variety that I’m not that crazy about. Not that I have not had some very nice ones over the years. I see the attraction, but somehow I never go back for more.![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}