Plenty of superlatives have been used to describe the 2010 vintage in Piedmont, which stands out among an extended run of favorable years for producers of Barbaresco and Barolo. If you are looking to stock up on what many say is one of the greatest vintages in the last decade, 2010 is it.
Indeed there were a few rough vintages (2002 for some; ’03 for others) from the end of the ‘90s to present, but the key word for us in assessing 2010 is balance. This was not a powerhouse vintage making fruit forward wines, but rather a fairly damp and cool season with an extra-late finish, resulting in wines of finesse, well-moderated tannins, and exceptional aromatic complexity. That said, today’s Barbaresco Riserva from Pasquale Pelissero shows off Barbaresco’s more serious side, foregoing its often soft and gentle nature with a wine of deep concentration and structure. It’s perhaps more akin to a wine from its famous neighbor Barolo, and has all the components to age effortlessly for decades. At this price to quality, this is a wine to buy by the case and drink over the next decade or beyond.
When you hear wine people speak of ‘bouquet,’ they’re speaking of wines like this – wines with aromas that fill the immediate area right after pouring, aromas which tax the descriptive resources of even the most florid tasters (like us). Great Nebbiolo is always about a tug-of-war between fruit and earth, sweet and savory. There’s the cherry kirsch checked by hints of tar and tobacco. The red currant and dried cherry countered by bitter orange peel and a varnish-y note like the inside of an antique cabinet. The rose petal florals and the humid, funky soil. Wines like this 2010 let all this stuff rattle around your head for a while instead of choking it off with tannin or burying it under extract.
It’s not that there isn’t power here: This is a Riserva, meaning it spent a longer period in oak (3 years in 100% new French barriques, in this case) and bottle before release. That oak influence is recognizable, both in the tannic structure and in the aromas, but the wine is still approachable in its youth. It’s powerful, not musclebound.
Pasquale Pelissero started as a family winery back in 1921, when brothers Giovanni and Giuseppe purchased the Cascina Crosa farm in the village of Neive from the noble Conti Cocito family. Pasquale, or Papa, took the helm thereafter and became the first in Neive to bottle and sell his own wines (his first commercial vintage was 1971). When Papa passed away in 2007, his daughter, Ornella, took the reins and has continued to work the vineyards with the help of her husband, Lorenzo, and son, Simone. Their ‘Riserva Ciabot’ hails from a very small cru vineyard in Neive called San Giuliano, and is perhaps the only example of a single-vineyard wine from this site. Neive is home to one of Barbaresco’s biggest names, Bruno Giacosa, whose Barbaresco from the “Santo Stefano” cru is one of the standard-bearers of the zone. Needless to say, Pelissero’s ‘Riserva Ciabot’ is much less expensive, with a comparable pedigree.
While I’m sure this will age beautifully for 10 to 20 years, it is also compelling to drink now, thanks to its impeccable balance. The aromatics really blossomed for me after about an hour in the decanter, and at 60 to 65 degrees, in ample Burgundy stems, the tannins are firm but not forbidding. Since this Barbaresco behaves so much like a Barolo, here’s a
risotto recipe that calls for the latter (although you shouldn’t actually use either this wine, or any Barolo, to cook with!).
