winetastic wrote:I will be in Barbaresco for a week in March, I'm in the process of setting some appointments for tastings, does anyone have some suggestions on who I really should not miss?
Plan is to take a leisurely pace have one booking each morning and one in the afternoon. I want to prioritise producers who get imported into Australia.
So far on the list:
Produttori
Cigliuti
Cascina delle Rose
Cantina Del Pino
Marchesi di Gresy
Traversa
Not knowing who gets imported will mean I may be off-base with suggestions. Of those on your list, although produttori del B do have a cellar door, best to book an appointment, as otherwise they're likely to be apathetic (they do see a lot of tourists these days). Cantina del Pino definitely worthwhile - we discovered them in 99 vintage, but got VERY lucky on an auction lot of the 98s so have enjoyed many bottles. I'm not a fan of Marchesi di Gresy (other are more impressed), but IIRC there is an antipodean winemaker, so possibly worth the visit to get an outsiders view from the inside. Cigliuti is another I've yet to get excited about, but only via tasting 3-4 of their wines.
In Barbaresco itself, La Ca Nova offer incredible value (IIRC < €20 for their Barbaresco wines and they are decent quality).
Albino Rocca mentioned above impressed us greatly, not a foot wrong across the whole range, including a very fine Cortese and a very good Moscato. Sad to hear the Patriarch died, though to assuage the above fears, I got the impression from our visit that he liked to 'busy himself' around the place, and was humoured with good grace when he did so, but the younger generation were very much running the place.
Moccagatta also mentioned above was good, thougn for some might push the new oak a bit much - their Chardonnay Buschet is worth trying as much as for a view of whether they are over-enthusiastic, as for me it stood on the cusp of too much oak.
Giuseppe Nada (one of a few Nadas in the area) make some very good value Barbaresco including the riserva Casot.
Rizzi (in Treiso - a great village for dining with all four options very worthwhile) worth a look as well
Logistically I wonder whether a better strategy is 2 tastings in the morning (say 9:30 and 11 or 11:30am) as most take 60-90 mins, which then takes you to lunch and gives you an afternoon to take a walk amongst the vines, or head back to the ranch for an after-lunch snooze. Some wineries do like to observe the traditional long Italian lunch, which might mean that 3-3.5 hour gap in the middle of the day ends up getting in the way.
Finally, it's not far to get into Alba, and they have a very good selection of food shops. I end up buying lots of food in Italy to take back to the UK, but of course the options are limited that will satisfy the Aussie customs & excise folk. There are good wine shops here, but if you're buying at the tastings, then you may not have a need for additional bottles.
Hope this helps
