2012 Produttori di Barbaresco - Langhe Nebbiolo: This is showing very nicely on its own, without food, and I can’t wait to try it with the Roman meatloaf on the stove (Marcella Hazan’s recipe, cooked in tomato paste and porcinis). A pretty, Burgundian garnet hue. Rather tight nose with a hint of sour and dried cherries. More sour cherries in the mouth, with a real Barbaresco dose of tannins, yet quite approachable. With a bigger mouthful and a swirl in the mouth, lots and lots of bright red and sour cherries emerge. There’s ample tannin and acid at the back, but also a trace of sweet cherry.
This is like a little brother to Barbaresco, with a family resemblance but not the broad shoulders. Somehow Aldo Vacco succeeds in making this drinkable young without its being facile. It keeps my interest.
This seems even better than a bottle I opened several months ago. What a bargain at less than $20. 87++ without food. Stay tuned for a further report.
I’m pretty sure I had the '11 and posted here, but I can’t pull it up with a search. I’m pretty sure I liked it a lot. Isn’t that the vintage Vacco said was the ripest ever for the nebbiolo?
I opened up your post and saw “cooked in tomato paste and porcinis” and thought, “this might not be good!” Glad to hear you liked it. I’ve loved this wine in other vintages and I will go find some. I really like how it captures the firm structure and lightness of Nebbiolo while drinking well right off the truck.
Oddly, this didn’t get a big boost from the food. I think I liked it better on its own, in its raw tannic glory. With air and food it has developed just a trace of cherry candy. I recall that once before in this wine – in the 2012, I believe, but maybe it was the '11. I’m on my own tonight, so I popped the other half of the bottle into a 375ml and into the fridge for sampling at some later time.
2012 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (11/10/2014)
I decanted this for about two and a half hours before serving with dinner. Just before sitting down to eat, I took a taste to find a nice, balanced wine with obvious structure but some nice fruit balancing it. The wine was a nice paring to dinner (balsamic chicken, roasted squash, and cheesy polenta). Following dinner, I returned for the final glass in the decanter to find the fruit had disappeared behind a wall of drying tannins that I did not enjoy. If this bottle is any guide, there seems to be a sweet spot in terms of amount of air needed to drink now.
I think the tannins are pretty substantial, so it will swing back and forth in drinkability depending on whether there’s food with it, and how long you’ve been drinking it (and drying your mouth with tannins). In other words, it’s nebbiolo.
Thanks for the notes, John and Pat. I look forward to it getting out here.
As I recall, Aldo said pretty much that in relation to Produttori at our recent tasting with him. I’m really looking forward to the '11 Riservas, but, especially here, it’ll be some time away …
I haven’t had as much of this wine as I should and could (scarce availability). I always rationalize spending more for the normale Barberseco or the Reserva’s. And at the $20 price point, I think I can do better with a Terre Nere Etna Rossa. Consequently, I don’t buy this wine. My mother bought me the last one I had about 6 months ago and while good, I wasn’t that impressed with it.