A wonderful Barolo from Maretti showcasing great value for the region. The colour is dark garnet with ruby highlights. It has a clear-cut, intense nose with overtones of roses, spices, earthy undertones with nuanced vanilla notes. The taste is dry, but soft, full-bodied, velvety and well balanced, and is very long-lasting. Classic Barolo like this works well with rich braised meat dishes or a mushroom risotto.

Barbaresco is widely regarded as more approachable than it’s brash, ballsy sibling, Barolo. There’s still acid and tannin to spare here, but it’s softly aromatic and harmoniously put together. The complexity and depth of flavour is second to none, with heady aromas of roses and violets, alongside sweet, exotic spices and sprinkling of dusty cocoa. It’s that bit more versatile than Barolo, I find, and equally suited to a big, rich stew as it is to more delicate game and truffle dishes. It’ll age miraculously well, though there’s no need for Barolo’s 20-odd years before opening. This one is absolutely delightful now after a spin in the decanter, but will sit happily in the cellar for well over a decade.

AZIENDA AGRICOLA SORDO GIOVANNI Barbaresco , Barbaresco DOCG

The Pertinace winery is located in the locality of the same name, in Treiso, Piedmont, one of the four municipalities of the Langhe famous for the production of Barbaresco DOCG and also known as the birthplace of Publio Elvio Pertinace, valorous soldier and Roman Emperor, who was born here in 126 A.D. Pertinace as a place name is a thousand years old. The wines produced follow the trend of the Piedmontese wine tradition characterised by a classic and elegant style. Founded in 1973 by Mario Barbero, the Winery was a winegrowers cooperative of thirteen members from the Treiso area with an innovative, ground-breaking idea to create a business that could first grow superior grapes and then put a great new brand onto the market, with one eye on quality and the other on the tastes of the evolved consumer. They decided to concentrate on Nebbiolo grapes to make high quality Barbaresco, bottling and marketing it under the name 'Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace'. The name of the winery was then changed to 'Cantina Pertinace', and in January 2016, the number of members increased to 20, with a total of 110 hectares under vines (mainly Nebbiolo, but also Dolcetto, Barbera d’Alba, Moscato and Chardonnay) and production of 650,000 bottles. Since 1973, the winery has never stopped developing and growing. Cantina Pertinace wines are part of traditional Piedmont winemaking at its purest - from care of the vineyards, looked after personally by the contributing members, to the winemaking and ageing processes, the production of Barbaresco, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Dolcetto and Barbera d’Alba is oriented towards a classic, elegant style. Production and refining areas of the wines reflect the traditional philosophy such as tall stainless steel tanks contrasting with aisles of great 40 to 105 hectolitre wooden casks where ageing occurs in cool, quiet half-light. All crus are produced following the same rules without exception as they rest in great casks for 18 months. Despite their similar gestation processes, the resultant wines have very different personalities, strongly influenced by the differences in terroir and constant care and great attention to detail in the vineyards. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, the vineyards of Langa, Roero and Monferrato are, to quote the words of the World Heritage List, an outstanding living testimony to winegrowing and winemaking traditions that stem from a long history. The 110 hectares of vineyard are scattered throughout Treiso, Barbaresco, Alba, Neviglie, Piobesi d’Alba and Magliano Alfieri in Cuneo Province, and Agliano Terme in Asti Province. The Langhe Nebbiolo is made with grapes coming from vineyards in Treiso. The vineyards have a south westerly aspect and acreage of 5 hectares. This wine undergoes temperature controlled vinification for 10-15 days in steel tanks followed by a 9-12 month ageing period in Salvonian oak casks. A ruby red with purple and garnet shades and aromas of ripe red fruits with pepper and rosehip lead to a palate that has a hint of spice with soft tannins

Founded in 1958, the priest of the village of Barbaresco, recognizing that the only way small properties could survive was by joining their efforts, gathered together nineteen small growers and founded the Produttori del Barbaresco. From its humble beginnings making the first three vintages in the church basement, Produttori del Barbaresco has grown to a 52 member co-operative with 250 acres of Nebbiolo vineyards in the Barbaresco appellation and an annual production of over 500,000 bottles. Its vineyards amount to almost 1/6 of the vineyards of the area. Each member is in full control of their land, growing Nebbiolo grapes with the skill and dedication they have honed over generations. Playing a key role in elevating the quality level of Barbaresco over the years, Produttori del Barbaresco produces a simpler Nebbiolo Langhe, a Barbaresco blend and nine single vineyard wines produced in premier vineyards: Asili, Rabaja, Pora, Montestefano, Ovello, Paje, Montefico, Muncagota and Rio Sordo. In great vintages, nine single-vineyard Barbarescos are produced from nine classic premium sites within the Barbaresco village boundaries: Asili, Rabajà, Pora, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajè, Montefico, Muncagota, and Rio Sordo. These are the geographical names of sites where Nebbiolo grapes have always been cultivated. The name of the single-vineyards, the total number of bottles produced, and the name of the owners of the vineyards are marked on the labels. A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighbouring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio. Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins. Produttori del Barbaresco makes its Langhe Nebbiolo with declassified Barbaresco fruit (often from parcels on lower slopes) so production volumes are notably reduced in the better vintages when more of the prime fruit finds its way into their delicious village Barbaresco. This 2020 Nebbiolo shows great promise with immediate attractive aromatics that boast dark cherry, plum and sweet herbs. Wonderfully intense and potent, the palate displays red and black berry fruits, strawberries and cherries with an underlying elegance. The finish is creamy with soft plump tannins, black liquorice notes and great length.

This Nebbiolo from Traviarti's home block vineyard is intense and savoury with a round tannin profile that coats the mouth and a line of acidity that teases out the palate.

Trediberri is a winery located in La Morra that was established by Nicola Oberto, his father Federico, and his friend Vladimiro. In 2007, they acquired 5 hectares of vineyards in the MGA Berri, which is the origin of the winery's name. Trediberri's wines have become popular since their first vintage in 2011, thanks to their fresh and immediate style that highlights the fruit and drinkability of the wines. They have moved away from the traditional notion of Barolo being a wine with a strong structure but not very smooth in the mouth. Trediberri currently cultivates around 8 hectares of vineyards in La Morra, including Rocche dell'Annunziata, Berri, Capalot, and Torriglione, which produce Barolo, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera d'Alba, and Langhe Sauvignon. Trediberri Barolo Berri DOCG 2019 is a wine that showcases the unique flavours of La Morra's MGA Berri and MGA Capalot vineyards. The wine is made using a meticulous vinification process, with alcoholic fermentation taking place in concrete and lasting around 12-14 days, followed by a 6-7 day post-fermentative maceration. Total skin-juice contact is around 3 weeks, and then malolactic fermentation occurs in oak. The wine is aged for approximately 20 months in 52-hl and 25-hl oak barrels crafted by Garbellotto. After aging, the wine rests for several months in concrete, steel, and plastic before being bottled, usually in July-August of the year before the release. The 2019 Barolo Berri is tightly wound and austere in the early going, with crushed red berry fruit, iron, dried herbs, and white pepper giving the wine a striking aromatic top register. The tannins are a bit nervy, so a few years in bottle are warranted.

There are very few stories in the world of wine that are more important to tell than that of Bruno Giacosa. A man’s legacy etched into lore, and with such gravitas that it is still felt today in his native Piemonte by almost all the producers in the region. Born in 1929 in Neive where the winery remains, Bruno Giacosa spent his formative teenage years working with his father Carlo as a ‘commerciante’ or grape broker. This very important but often overlooked part of Giacosa’s history is perhaps the key to understanding his unrivalled ability to select fruit, even that which he hadn’t grown himself. The family’s income at that time revolved solely around the ability to sell fruit to winemakers, and taking any fruit to Vinify themselves would have been a conflict of interest. In fact, his father so vehemently opposed the young Bruno’s intention to bottle his own wine in the early 1960’s, that he had to do so without the blessing of the family. The first vintage wearing the label Bruno Giacosa was 1961, a single Barbaresco bottling from a mixture of vineyards as was custom at the time. It was the prominent wine author and critic Luigi Veronelli who at the time was crusading for Piedmont’s adoption of the French ‘cru’ classification of vineyard that convinced Giacosa to bottle and (importantly) label single vineyard wines soon after his first vintage. The first labelled cru bottling was the 1964 Barbaresco Vigna Santo Stefano, but it is possible that even the first wine used fruit exclusively from there. While the obsession with site continued and strengthened throughout Bruno Giacosa’s career, so did the predilection to purchase fruit from growers rather than buy vineyards himself. Though Giacosa was not the only winemaker somewhat late to the party in buying land in the Langhe, it is regarded as his greatest missed opportunity. Some of Italy’s greatest wines ever were Giacosa’s red label bottlings from Santo Stefano di Neive, Villero and Collina Rionda, none of which are produced today by the estate. In vinous literacy, it is impossible to read about the Langhe without reading about Giacosa and his contemporary Angelo Gaja. While Gaja was a willing frontman for the region, Giacosa continued to toil in the background. Both leading from the front and each producing the region’s best wines. Winemaking involves a great many small decisions, each affecting the next. One can only hope to get them right, to capture what there was in the grapes to begin with. - Bruno Giacosa Giacosa’s Nebbiolo d’Alba uses fruit sourced solely from the Roero area, and the wine alongside both the Arneis and Nebbiolo Valmaggiore from here have a long and storied history with Bruno Giacosa. It is no coincidence that 1974 saw the first bottling of both Arneis and Nebbiolo d’Alba from Giacosa, as they were sourced from the same growers. The same is mostly true today, and where the Arneis is grown in the predominantly North-facing slopes of the vineyards in Roero, the Nebbiolo comes from the South slopes of the same sites. This is a stunning bottle of Nebbiolo that defies its humble DOC. Notably, it is not a Langhe Nebbiolo and carries quite a different profile to the Nebbiolo from further South. Nor is it one of the fashionable new pseudo-Barolo’s or ‘declassified’ senior expressions of Nebbiolo. Instead it is a wine that is very elegant, high toned but sure-footed and very much baring the maker’s mark of restrained power and proudly the young Nebbiolo of the range. Intense Ruby red. The nose has evident notes of red fruits, strawberries, blackcurrants and raspberries. The palate is typical to the variety with a great freshness and structure.

Lively garnet red with a very characteristic nose of dried fruit and raspberries. Exceptional balance on the palate, round tannins and sensations already present on the nose.