2021 Barbaresco, Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy

An intriguing wine with aromas of potpourri, dried cherries and candied orange zest. Smoky and juicy on the palate, with firm, dusty yet ripe tannins, a full body and a long, savory finish. Drinkable now, but it has great potential for the long haul.

The 2021 Barbaresco is a gorgeous, deep wine. Although the aromatics are a bit closed, the 2021 shows gorgeous depth and a touch more palate presence than is typically the case for this bottling. Dark and enveloping, the 2021 will offer a number of years of very fine drinking. It is an impressive, classy wine from Produttori del Barbaresco.

The 2021 Barbaresco offers more complexity and sports a bit deeper shade of red than the 2021. Layered with aromas of kirsch, darker spice, cardamom, candied flowers, and orange peel, the palate is more structured and compact, with savory notes of salty earth, angular, ripe tannins, and its more citrus-noted acidity shining on the palate. It has more nervous energy and needs more time. Give it another couple years.

A vibrant, well-defined red, offering rose, cherry, strawberry, white pepper and mineral flavors. Sleek and elegant, this firms up on the linear finish. Balanced and approachable now yet would benefit from a bit more time to knit together. Excellent length.

Showing a super bright piercing aromatics of pressed red cherry, saline black berries and tart cranberry fruit complexity with fragrant undertones of polished mahogany, damp earth and a delicately herbal, floral potpourri spice melange. The palate is sleek, fulsome and absolutely brimming with tart juicy red and black Nebbiolo fruits that support an incredibly tight, fine grained tannin structure, with notes of cherry cola and pink rock candy, finishing with a sleek, sumptuous, supple sappy mineral persistence. This cooler vintage has delivered a Produttori del Barbaresco expression that surpasses possibly even some of the previous non-declared / declassified Cru Barbaresco expressions where all nine Crus were blended together into the Barbaresco normale. A simply spectacular, mouth watering wine once again.

2021 was an exceptional year in the Langhe as is clearly demonstrated by the gorgeous 2021 Barbaresco from Produttori. It boasts beautiful aromas of violet, rose, cake spice and mint that carry over to the elegant palate along with succulent red cherry, crushed raspberry and star anise. Taut, refined tannins and bright acidity keep it impeccably balanced. Made from blending Nebbiolo from different vineyard sites, this is the firm’s classic Barbaresco and is one of the greatest values in Italian fine wine.

This wine gives us our first taste of the epic 2021 vintage from a producer as prolific as Produttori del Barbaresco. Bottled in April 2024, this vintage shows the immense power and complexity that likens it to 2016, another year for collectors. The 2021 Barbaresco offers medium-rich density that is transmitted both to the wine's appearance and its mouthfeel. There is black fruit, spice and a touch of nutmeg. However, the wine maintains its youthful tension and energy throughout. The tannins are chalky, fine and void of any bitterness. This is a classical expression of Nebbiolo that gives us good reason to be excited for the upcoming 2021 Barbaresco Riservas.

Barbaresco. Lustrous, just mid ruby. Savoury, minerally nose with rich but shy red fruit underneath. Lush, fresh raspberry fruit underpinned by bags of polished tannins. Long and a little muscular but with plenty of fruit to balance.