2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (3/31/2016)
Right from the moment I pulled the cork this had a gorgeous perfume of flowers, spice, meat and red fruit. It still has some serious spine to resolve, but with food it settles in and plays nice. The more air it gets the sterner the tannins become, so clearly much more time is warranted, but wow the aromas. Just lovely.
Posted from CellarTracker
By coincidence, I was served the 04 Produttori Montestefano Riserva last night by someone who had seen my recent post on the 04 Produttori normale. This was decanted ahead and served blindly. It was showing less on the nose than your bottle, but sounds similar structurally. Classic nebbiolo rose hips and earthiness on the nose. Lots of backbone – tannin and acid – but enough fruit that it was drinkable with meats. I guessed an 04 or 05 Barolo or Barbaresco. Needs another five years, at least, I’d guess before it really begins to show its stuff. It’s still pretty tight. It’s a big step up in concentration and structure from the normale, which is ready to go.
I brought the 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano precisely because I had not tasted it yet and wanted to benefit from John’s views given that he had just tasted the Normale recently. It had been decanted for a bit over 2 hours and like the comment on the Pora, it seemed that the tannins were becoming more pronounced the more air time the wine got. A beautiful wine that I thought was still early on in its lifespan, but could be enjoyed now. Rose hips and lots of dirt, this was the real deal.