The Auswine Forum

G’day

I had the pleasure of attending a Barbaresco masterclass at Lamonts in Cottesloe (Perth). The masterclass was hosted by W.A.s only active Master of Wine, Brendan Jansen. Brendan is an engaging presenter in a relaxed and gentle manner. Italy is Brendan’s area of interest, with Piemonte especially so.

We looked at 12 wines over the course of the masterclass, from across the Barbaresco region. Brendan provided commentary on the topography of the region, and its influence on the wines.

Rizzi Barbaresco Nervo 2020: Pale ruby in colour. A light and fresh nose with rose petal, fennel and red cherries. The palate shows fleshy red fruits, prominent tannins, and noticeable acid leading to a moderate finish.

Rizzi Barbaresco Pajore 2020: This is riper and a little richer than its sibling (above), with red and dark cherries and violets on the nose. The palate appears softer in terms of acid and tannins, but has a velvety texture and more apparent palate weight. Medium to long finish. I preferred this to the previous wine.

Albino Rocca Barbaresco Montersino 2020: The nose displays violets, red and dark cherries, and a touch of tar. The palate has considerable fine-grained tannins, softer acid than previous wines and a touch of leather on the medium finish.

Figli Oddero ‘Rombone’ Barbaresco 2019: Violets and roses on the nose, with black fruits and tar. The palate has plump fruit, but surprisingly soft acid, and the softest tannins of the wines to date, with slight grip on the back palate only. Modest length, and a relatively delicate wine.

Produttori del Barbaresco 2021: Ruby in colour and quite translucent. A fresh nose with violets, roses, red cherries and plums. By comparison, the palate shows tar, with some weight and texture, and tannic grip on the back palate. Enjoyable wine.

Albino Rocca Barbaresco Ronchi 2020: Oak characters slightly dominated the dark fruits and florals on the nose. The palate adds a little mocha to the mix. Acid appears softer and there’s some fine almost spiky tannins. Moderate palate weight and a medium to long finish.

Luigi Giordano ‘Cavanna’ Barbaresco 2019: A fragrant nose, with lots of florals and vibrant fruit. The palate opened with a medicinal / cough syrup character that disappeared with further air. The fruit evolved in the glass. There’s reasonable tannic grip and matching acid, and a long finish. This was a more powerful and complete wine than the earlier wines, and I rated it highly.

Ca’ Rome’ ‘Maria di Brun’ Barbaresco 2017: The colour shows a little bricking, and the wine is less translucent than the other wines. It sees some new oak and this is apparent, along with dried or raisined fruit. The palate actually reminded me a little of a shiraz, with black fruits and a touch of brandy. There’s fine grippy tannins and noticeable acid.

Massolino Barbaresco Albesani 2022: Pale ruby colour and quite translucent. A delicate nose, with fresh red fruits, and fragrant florals. The palate reflects this, and I considered the wine to be the most ‘pinot-like’ of the tasting.

Paitin ‘Serraboella’ Barbaresco 2020: I found this wine to have similarities with the Massolino, with a fuller, richer nose and more intense fruits on the palate. High tannins but all in balance and an enjoyable wine for me.

Piero Busso Barbaresco San Stunet 2019: Slightly darker again than the previous wines, with a relatively shy nose. The palate is a little fuller, showing dark fruits, and tannins starting to integrate. Good length and reasonably balanced.

La Spinetta Barbaresco ‘Gallina’ 2020: The darkest wine of the tasting. New French oak. The most ‘modern’ wine of the tasting, with darker fruits, menthol and blackcurrant pastilles alongside the afore mentioned oak characters. A ripe palate, with more of the dark fruits, and fine tannins.


These are wines that I have a modest amount of experience with, and I admit I was expecting a higher level of tannins (especially given Barolo’s reputation for these). It was a pleasant surprise to find how drinkable many of these wines were now, rather than waiting for a decade for the tannins to soften.

Wine of the night (as voted by the group) was the Luigi Giordano ‘Cavanna’ Barbaresco 2019. My thanks to the crew at Lamonts for their service and hospitality, and especially to Brendan Jansen MW for sharing his considerable knowledge and opinions over the evening.

Cheers
Allan

Many thanks for posting this.

Giordano: I'm guessing this is the same family who have a long association with the region, back to the days where negotiant production was the norm. Not a star back then, with my only TN (on a 1978 Barbaresco, drunk back in 2007) feeling it was a bit lacking in substance, where the acid was poking out. This then a super eye-opener, that the current output is quite a bit different to the old one.

La Spinetta: I recall tasting their wines in the Barbaresco commune building (a sort of town hall) in c. 2005/6. They stood out like a raver at vespers. In isolation, I thought them rich and intense, interesting wines for sure. Not really Barbaresco though, and the prices were rather elevated (in that latter respect, others have caught them up over time - they aren't IMO as overpriced as they used to be back then)

Tannins: Coming back to that tasting, it was a mix of new vintage wines, with a few prior vintages to keep them company. Whilst at first the tannins didn't seem obtrusive, 6-8 wines in we started to notice how they crept up on you, and our palates soon needed a rest (a sit down with some water and some fresh air helped). Having something to eat, even if just water biscuits or grissini, can be essential.

Tannins 2: I do think winemaking has changed significantly, and whilst Barbaresco was always less brutal (on average) than Barolo, the tannins could certainly be forceful. I'm drawn to the comments of Aldo Vacca, winemaker at Produttori del Barbaresco. His comment that he believes his wines hit peak at 12-15 years struck me. I'd always viewed the wines as much longer ageing, at their best shining at 30+ years old. Part of this will be down to the difference between Italian tastes, and that of necroviniac brits, but I also believe it's strongly influenced by climate change and winemaking / vineyard techniques aimed at taming those tannins. As such, whether the current crop of wines will shine 30+ years later, I'm unsure.

Tannins 3: Back in more traditional times, there used to be a decent window to drink these wines on release. Whilst the fruit was still forceful, it could go toe to toe with the tannins, and especially so when drunk with food that could also take on the tannins, the wines could be very enjoyable indeed. However once the initial vibrant fruit eased back, the tannins would envelop the wine, making it seem hard and unyielding. The joy of aged nebbiolo was when the tannins eventually softened, leaving a delicate / ethereal, yet complex aged wine to emerge... sometimes. Other times the tannins held firm beyond the life of the fruit! 10 years old could thus be an awful time to approach these wines, yet more and more aren't closing down at all, or if they do so, rarely is it a hard slamming down of tannic casing.