An old buddy of mine once described a wine as “…more cellos than violins,” which I promptly stole and have used ever since. It works the other way, too: Fiorenzo Nada’s 2016 Barbaresco, for example, is a violin symphony—high-pitched and exceedingly pretty, which is what Barbaresco is meant to be.
Now with fourth-generation Danilo Nada leading the charge, this small family property in the village of Treiso is an absolute treasure, one that must not be taken for granted: The price of this wine is not a product of economies of scale, but of a long history in the same place. Tasting today’s ’16 wasn’t just about the violins (and maybe a few violas) but about a familiar Barbaresco melody I’ll never tire of hearing. As a sommelier, I’d love to take this bottle on tour and share it with as many people as possible, because, to me, it’s a pitch-perfect example of type. As a consumer, I appreciate a well-priced, hand-crafted product that is built to last. One sip of this captivating Nebbiolo and you’ll be singing the same tune.
As we’ve noted in other offers, 2016 does not take a back seat in any way to the heavily hyped 2015 vintage: Critic Antonio Galloni of Vinous characterized ’16 as producing “…some of the most compelling young wines [he has] tasted in twenty years of visiting the region.” I would just add that, in our experience thus far, the ’16 Barbarescos are more finessed than the showier ’15s. I’d happily drink wines from either year, but ’16 may prove to have the more ‘complete’ wines of the two.
That geekery aside, today’s wine is just pure Barbaresco pleasure—the Nebbiolo grape at its most ‘feminine’ and perfumed, with fine-grained tannins, well-balanced acidity, and a long, satisfying finish. The Nada family’s wine-growing history as Treiso dates to 1921, when Carlo Nada purchased a farm on the “Rombone” hill, which today is recognized as one of the great single vineyard sites in Treiso. Carlo’s son (and label namesake) Fiorenzo acquired some of his father’s property in the 1960s and began selling fruit to other producers, and later his own son, Bruno, bottled the first “estate” wines in 1982. In classic Barbaresco fashion, there’s now a new Nada on the scene: Bruno’s son, Danilo, who has focused a lot of his attention on obtaining organic certification for the estate’s 10 hectares of vineyards.
Those vineyards are mostly in Treiso, one of the three main Barbaresco villages, and include parcels in three of its top “cru” vineyards: “Rombone,” “Manzola” and “Montaribaldi,” all of which have similar south-southwest expositions. They bottle single-vineyard wines from all three sites, whereas today’s Barbaresco bottling takes fruit from all three—and it’s not from more recently planted sections, either, but from vines averaging 35+ years of age. It aged 24 months in large oak casks (botti) and another 12 months in bottle before release.
The results are downright spectacular: I sip this wine and I’m entranced by its perfume, its seamless integration of fruit and earth, its tension, and its fine-grained texture. This is spot-on Barbaresco, plain and simple: In the glass, it’s a bright garnet-red moving to pink and orange at the rim, with lifted aromas of tiny woodland berries, strawberry, orange peel, rose petals, tea leaves, underbrush, and warm spices. It is quintessentially “Barbaresco” in scale, medium to medium-plus in body with a little less heat and tannin than you’d find in a typical Barolo. Decant it 30-60 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and you’ve got an explosively aromatic, balletic red wine on your hands for pairing with all the Piedmontese classics: braised beef; wild mushroom/truffle pastas; etc. The Nadas have their own pairing suggestion for this wine—
arrosto di maiale al latte (milk-roasted pork loin—so who am I to argue? Time to get cooking (and drinking)!
