If you haven’t see this yet, it is a great list/review of Barbaresco producers from Ian D’Agata. Two parts.
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I just saw this bit from one of AG’s articles. His speculation…
"Some Thoughts On Pricing
Consumers are surely noticing the rapid escalation of prices for some of Piedmont’s most desired wines. Most of that has happened over in Barolo, which makes top-notch Barbaresco look like an increasingly better value. The subject of price increases is touchy. Some of it is driven by demand, which is usually the result of quality and consistency over time. But some recent price increases are driven purely by Greed. That is Greed, with a capital G. Let me be clear, I have no issues with any producer who raises prices over time and invests in growth and quality. Or a winery that wants to capture more of the upside that other parts of the value chain capture today. However, a lot of what I am seeing are price increases driven by a desire to improve ‘positioning’ or perception relative to other high-quality wines. That is extremely dangerous.
The wine industry faces two major challenges that will shape the future. Climate change is of course the first. Shifting demographics is the second. In today’s red-hot market, most wineries can jam through price increases. There will be buyers at newer floors of pricing. They won’t be the old buyers, but wineries that raise prices quickly don’t care about their existing customers. In fact, they are prepared to lose a good number of them. The question is: Who will buy these wines in ten years’ time? How are younger consumers going to get turned on to wines that cost $50, much less $100 or $200 a bottle? Increasingly the answer is quite stark. They simply aren’t.
In Napa Valley, where an average bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon easily costs $250 or more, wineries are obsessed with the age of their customers. They collect data assiduously and analyze it to understand trends in order to reach a younger audience. This is possible because wineries sell direct and have access to that data. In Italy and Piedmont wineries sell only a small portion of their wine direct and therefore have only a general idea of who is buying their wines. What happens in 10-15 years when today’s high-end consumers age out?"
Ironic that Galloni doesn’t accept his own role in price increases… and then calls others greedy. 
I had three 2019 Barbaresco’s up against each other tonight.
Massolino Barbaresco, La Ca Nova Montestefano and Olek Bondonio Roncagliette. All very good wines and all worthy purchases. Massolino the most easy drinking and red fruited of the three and 1% lower abv. La Ca Nova a bit more serious but needs a bit more air now… probably a very good purchase with a little more patience. Less accessible than my last bottle.
Olek Bondonio at twice the price, or so, is worth it. If i had the chance again i would go deep on it. More aromatic and better balanced taste wise. A tremendous Nebbiolo.
All three is still very good QPR in my book. We also had Massolino’s 2019 Langhe. The Barbaresco is worth the step up.
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At the price point of PdB Normale, I’d rather drink Roagna Langhe Rosso.
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Then he savaged 2018 in Piemonte.
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Has anyone had a chance to compare the 17 and 18 Produttori normale?
If you hunt around, you can find the normale/“torre” for $35-$37 in the greater New York area, but Wine Search says the national average price is $47.
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In the european market, the Roagna LR is 50-100% more expensive than the PdB Normale. Otherwise I would probably do the same.
This is a good start.
La ca nova as mentioned
The below are all sub PDB riseva prices in Aus too.
A. Rocca
belle colle
Cantina Del pino
Cascina delle Rose
C luisin
Musso
Olek B
Nada Fiorenzo
Ect.
Bondonio sub-PdB Riserva? Wow, things have changed.
At least around here in Europe PdB Riserva tends to be still quite available and affordable, whereas Bondonio wines can be hard to find, and while they are great for their (not that low) price, I wouldn’t say they’re bargains. Priced according to their quality, if something.
Cascina delle Rose, Cascina Roccalini, Poderi Colla and La Ca’ Növa are definitely great purchases when looking for affordable alternatives for PdB. Or at least they are around here.
Granted I’ve only had their wined from various 1990s vintages, I’d throw in Pertinace for good and reasonably-priced Barbaresco that hits the traditional (my take) meter. Plus it is another co-operative operation in the neighborhood.
Is Massolino producing barbaresco a new thing? I don’t recall seeing it
Based partly on this thread I checked in on a La Ca Nova 2017 Montestefano last night. Young and hard out of the gate, with aggressive tannin, it softened up nicely in the decanter over the course of several hours. Showed some real promise by the end of the night, with tannins remaining pronounced but fruit filling in to buffer. I bought these inexpensively (around $25 after some discounts) and with some hesitation based on the 2017 vintage reputation, but based on this showing I should have bought more. I’m trying to focus on '19 amongst recent vintages, but the prices are going to be higher and I don’t regret having these '17s at all.
Yes. 2019 is the first vintage.
There’s a lot of wines that have seen crazy price increases worth complaining about, I don’t see Produttori as one of them. You can still buy this 2014 Produttori Ovello for $63.99 for 2 bottles and <$70 for as many bottles as you want. That’s 3 years after release and not waiting for some kind of sale, just hopping on wine searcher. I think I bought my '14 Ovello for something like $50-55 shortly after release on a special deal, but a 20-30% increase over 3 years is very mild and especially net of storage costs, I’d have been better off waiting to buy until now and earning a return on my money in the interim. I don’t see anything in this range on W-S right now, but I also recall 1-2 years ago getting offers on 2014 riservas including the Rabaja for <$60, I think in this vintage (which I think is super high quality but got a bad rep because in Barolo there were some poor wines) these were difficult wines for retailers to sell through.
My personal take on Produttori riservas is (a) at their best, they remain very classic, austere wines in need of a lot of time in the cellar, (b) the quality is very variable by vineyard and by vintage, (c) the best vineyards in the best recent vintages like '16 are epic wines that remain underpriced. Because of (a), I don’t think these are wines that the average collector is going to drink and be blown away by and crave, so I don’t see the Produttori riservas being super coveted wines going for $200, 300 or something (the production quantity also prevents this from happening). Because of (b) and (c), I think it pays to be a bit disciplined in what you buy. For example, I thought the '17 Rabaja was disappointing and I’d much rather drink the '16 normale or even the '17 normale. I haven’t loved the wines I’ve had from some of Produttori’s “lesser” single vineyards, and would also prefer the normale to those at a cheaper price. That said, wines like the '16 Asili or Rabaja are epic wines in the making and were steals at the release price of $80 in my view.
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In the US, Bondonio is definitely not cheaper than PdB riservas; even their Langhe is more expensive than PdB normale.
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PdB price from the (long time) Australian importer seems very high. They were also the previous importer for Vajra…was always very envious of the rest of the world calling Bricco Delle Viole one of the great bargains, it certainly wasn’t the case here.
PdB Classico 2018 - Australians pay ~33% more even with 10% sales tax and 29% wine tax reversed out.
Olek’s importer is very fair, in comparison.
Level of competition amongst Australian retailers is also very low, compared to USA.
Interesting. They are few dollars apart on release in the US.
