Today’s wine is an endangered species—a vineyard-designate Barbaresco in the low-$30s that’s built to age. Frankly, I’ve come to accept that such wines are mostly a thing of the past: This is a world-class, albeit quite small, growing zone whose wines are in ever-greater demand.
These days, the typical price of entry in Barbaresco is a notch or two higher, which, to me, is (a) perfectly understandable and (b) still relatively cheap when compared to many reds of its class. Sourced from the famed “Starderi”
cru in the Barbaresco village of Neive, this is one of the best examples I can give to illustrate the difference between “value” and “cheap.” You know what that difference is, as do we—identifying it is the SommSelect mission. A complex young Barbaresco, from an acclaimed single vineyard, with obvious potential for cellaring, at $34? That is the epitome of value: We jumped at it, as should you!
While based in the village of Barbaresco proper, the vineyards of Montaribaldi—a collection which Pino Taliano began assembling in the late-1960s and now totals about 24 hectares—spread throughout the Barbaresco DOCG as well as several other Piedmontese appellations, including Roero and Barolo. In the early years, the Talianos sold most of their produce to others, but when Pino’s son, Luciano, took over in 1994 he placed a greater emphasis on estate-bottled wine under the Montaribaldi label. They make single-vineyard Barbarescos from all three of the principal towns of the appellation—Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso—with “Palazzina” being their name for their piece of the “Starderi” vineyard (whose other interpreters include cult-favorite La Spinetta). Situated at a relatively high altitude and facing southwest, it’s a vineyard known for firmly structured, fragrant wines with lots of nerve in their youth (as is typical of many Neive crus). Right out of the bottle this wine is demonstrably “young” in terms of its tannins, but the perfumed aromas and underlying depth hint at fireworks a few years down the line. It’s a very classically styled wine in this regard.
The fiercely “traditional” Barbaresco/Barolo lovers out there need to know that this 2014 was aged 20 months in predominantly used
barriques; smaller aging vessel notwithstanding, there’s no outwardly noticeable oak influence, other than a little added grip to the tannins. If you uncork a bottle soon, give it a rough decant—let it glug-glug into your most open-mouthed vessel—and leave it in a cool spot for at least an hour before service at 60 degrees in Burgundy stems. A wild and woodsy nose of dried cherries, red currant, blood orange rind, crushed stones, leather, and tobacco leaf continues to intensify with time open. Medium-bodied and deeply mineral, this is a resolutely savory, smoky red right now that will broaden, soften, and reveal more of its red and black fruits with time. Three to five years in the cellar and it should really start singing in earnest, with many prime drinking years to follow. It’s the kind of wine you’ll pat yourself on the back for having when you break into your stash a few years from now—but whenever you do, meet it head-on with something similarly bold and earthy. Check out the Piedmont-inspired dried mushroom
ragù in the attached recipe. It feels custom-designed for this wine!
