2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Crus Plus a Few Older Produttori Wines

Recognizing that the optimal preparation of young and old Nebbiolo for drinking is an imperfect science, we opted for the approach of opening but not decanting all of these bottles 4-5 hours before they were served. The 2016's were split up into 2 flights purely for glassware and space reasons; the order was an approximate guess of how weighty and structured the different vineyards might turn out to be at this early stage.

• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Light red. Fragrant cherry aromas. Supple, bright sweet fruit. Elegant, fluid, and more open than when last tasted. Earth and tobacco on the finish. The overall balance, and in particular, the duet between the fruit and savory flavors are both superb. I thought it had gone to sleep, but it was tasting great today, as delectable and approachable as any of the other 2016 wines in its flight. My goodness, one has to be impressed by how well it acquits itself when tasted alongside the more expensive crus.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Ruby. More mint and smoke than the normale. Bigger than that wine with tobacco, great acidity, and round tannins. Dry, complex, and savory. Nowhere near ready.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Lighter ruby. Ripe fruit, perfume, and menthol on the nose. Less apparently ripe in the mouth-lean, earthy, and penetrating with strong cranberry notes as well as a citric twist. One of the lighter weight wines in the range and pretty mixed up right now. Judgement deferred.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pajè

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Red in color like the normale. Predominant green scents. Medium body, wonderful acidity, complex soil, licorice, orange peel, and violet. Tannic finish. One of the least fruit-driven wines in the range at present and tough to sort out, although its potential poked through a little more than, say, the Montefico.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Deep ruby core. Forward, ripe black cherry aromas. Rich, round, sappy, mouth coating cherry fruit, terrific acidity, and drying tannins at the end. Complete and rather showy at the moment despite the late rush of structure, and one of the easier 2016's to taste and gauge today. A big boy that is not as fine as some of the other crus, but it has huge appeal and plenty in reserve for further evolution.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Medium ruby. Amazing from the get go. Candied fruit aromas plus additional fragrance. Powerful, youthful, citric with great acidity. This is already fabulous. Its exquisite balance and depth should make it one for the ages. It was hard to choose a favorite between this and the Rabaja which followed it.
  
  After being recorked overnight, it really shut down-leaner, more grainy feel, tart, tarry, and much earthier, although floral and citrus peel aromas still burst forth. So, I guess the message is try one early if you'd like, but be prepared for a long wait after that. This is not a bad thing for a wine from such an important site. I have complete faith in it based upon my initial impression yesterday, but I won't be teeing up bottles any time soon.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Deep ruby. Like the Asili, forward candied fruit on the nose. On the palate, more backward black fruit than the aromas suggest, great penetration and persistence, wonderful feel and interplay of tobacco leaf and fruit. Ample tannic clout at the end, and a steadily rising trajectory for the time it lasted in the glass. Fantastic, just not quite as flattering as the Asili today, but this too should become legendary with the requisite time in bottle.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Ruby color. Lots of soil and black cherry. Closed, savory, and earthy at first with fruit very much in the background. Over time, it expands, becoming quite fluid, complex, and elegant. Very promising.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Light ruby. Menthol scent. Not fruit forward, but blackberry is there. Lean, lots of soil, and highly structured with serious drying tannins. I think it will be excellent in the (far) future, but honestly, I found this the most difficult of the 2016 crus to read and assess.

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• 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Deep ruby. Somber black fruit aromas. Blueberry fruit, great acidity and salinity, real sap overlying a ton of structure. Terroir-driven wine. This seems incredible too and right up there at the level of Asili and Rabaja, but it is larger scaled and more backward than either of those wines. One to be buried deeply in the cellar.

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• 2011 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Ruby. High toned, heady aroma, partly due to VA. Ripe, lush with a bit of green, but overall the most overtly sweet wine we tasted today. Good late citric lift though. I marked it down for some alcoholic heat and less complexity than many of the other wines, but it was a big hit with other tasters today.

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• 2008 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Deep ruby. Laid back nose. Silky, elegant, discretely sweet red fruit, gentle tobacco, and soil at the end. It develops more perfume. This is absolutely lovely, subtle Nebbiolo that is fully expressive at this point. An underdog given the stiff competition, yet it was my favorite of the younger older wines. Enjoy over the next 5 to 7 years.
  
  Returning to it the next day, even sweeter red fruit and rose atop an enveloping clay base. Classic seductive Nebbiolo.

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• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Light dull red. Floral aromas. Powerful but one dimensional and not very harmonious. Round and chocolatey on the attack but gripping and drying on the finish due to alcoholic harshness without the fruit to ameliorate all of the structure.

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• 2000 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Red with browning. A bit of funk and VA to greet you. This was the first wine that showed any age. In fact, tertiary with truffles and earth but still some remaining sweetness of fruit. Perfect medium weight and long, earthy finish that is quite tannic. It improved in the glass, but I think the risk of holding this longer would outweigh any benefit.

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• 1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Browning from the center out. A touch of oxidation and more than a tad of VA on the nose. Better on the palate-brown spice, sap, citrus, and a mix of red and black fruit. This was really the only old school Nebbiolo we tasted today. It was definitely alive at age 25 but funky and right on the edge of drying out. Disappointing in the context of 2 wines that were even older but showed much better. Some of this no doubt relates to the vintage, which can be austere, but it also took me back to the time when Piemontese wines were not necessarily as clean as they are today.

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• 1985 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Clear tawny color. Fragrant, poised green aromas. Supple, flowing delicate fruit and tar with beautiful residual sweetness. Little remaining tannin. Its only nit was some stalkiness, but overall it was lovely for its age and held up well in the glass. A great treat to try.

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• 1982 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Impressively deep color with browning at the extreme rim. Aromas of spices and menthol. Dark, profound, and mysterious with some tannin yet to be resolved. One could easily think this was a Barolo if tasted blind. A wow wine at almost 40 years of age and a fitting conclusion to a marathon day of tasting young and old Produttori wines. I was able to return to it 3 hours later, and it was even better. Bottles in this condition should still be going strong for another decade.

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It is hard to describe what a joyful afternoon this was, both for the sheer pleasure of gathering again with friends and for the fact that we tasted through this number of bottles without running into a single one that was overtly flawed. While not all of the 2016's were in the mood today, the ones that showed well lead to confidence that the lavish praise they have received is justified. Once again the basic bottling was stunning at its level and proved that if you're so inclined, going out and buying 2 of these instead of 1 bottle of the riservas is not a terrible idea. Finally, the older wines provided interesting perspective about the trajectory of Produttori wines and the shift toward the era of global warming. The 1982 Rabaja was a magnificent finishing wine, and we can only hope that the best of the 2016's turn out just like this given patience and good storage.