Press

• Score: 95 Vintage 2020 Wine Advocate The 2020 Barbaresco boasts an ample set of aromas with wild cherry, blue flower, sweet spice and crushed limestone. As always, the wine paints an exciting and authentic portrait of Nebbiolo, albeit with a little more richness and texture in this vintage. This is especially true in terms of the palate, where the wine offers mid-weight intensity with melting tannins. This ambitious release of 300,000 bottles is slated to hit the market in fall 2023. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2020 James Suckling This is aromatic and attractive with notes of dried cherries, hibiscus, cocoa and bark, following through a medium body with polished and refined tannins with velvety texture, and a linear finish. Fresh and floral at the end with a bright red fruit backbone. Drink from 2025. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2019 Wine Spectator This red combines cherry, plum, tar, iron, licorice and eucalyptus aromas and flavors, backed by a firm, refreshing profile. Dense and tight for now; however, the long, resonant finish and lingering fruit and white pepper accents show its potential. Best from 2027 through 2045. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2019 James Suckling Magazine This is extremely floral and bright on the nose with lavender, violets and dark berries. Orange peel too. Full-bodied and solid with firm tannins and a tight finish. Better in 2024. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2019 James Suckling This is extremely floral and bright on the nose with lavender, violets and dark berries. Orange peel too. Full-bodied and solid with firm tannins and a tight finish. Better in 2024. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2019 Vinous Media The 2019 Barbaresco is a gorgeous wine to drink now and over the next 15-20 years, give or take. Sweet, floral and open, the 2019 offers lovely brightness and energy to match its mid-weight, nervy feel. Sweet dried cherry, mint, crushed flowers and savory notes all grace this soft, understated Barbaresco from the Produttori. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2018 Wine Advocate Packaged in its distinctive brown paper label, the Produttori del Barbaresco 2018 Barbaresco is a beautifully lean and luminous expression of Nebbiolo, and that pretty color should remain intact over time. The aromas are bold and ripe with dark and purple fruit, but the bouquet shows interesting twists with earth, truffle, licorice and grilled herb. As the wine opens in the glass, you begin to notice heavier aromas of raisin and dried apricot. It wears a warm-vintage signature for sure, and for that reason, I would suggest a shorter drinking window for the 2018. With an ample 300,000 bottles made, you get a great value with this bottle. Produttori del Barbaresco has been hitting it out of the ballpark these past years with a string of excellent vintages that resulted in the production of their entire line of Riservas. However, that good momentum comes to an end because the Riservas were not made in 2018. That vintage saw all the fruit blended into one non-MGA Barbaresco. And with the 2017 Riservas reviewed here, you might find these bottles hard to find. Production was 30% lower in this growing season because of a very careful fruit selection process. In fact, Aldo Vacca calls 2017 a "roller coaster vintage with frost, then hail, then a summer drought." Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2018 James Suckling Lovely barbaresco, with all the typical nebbiolo characteristics, such as red berries, mushrooms and dried leaves, as well as hints of bitter orange peel and spice. All this follows through to the medium-to full-bodied palate, where fine, lightly firm tannins add a little grip and additional focus. Compact, but bursting with flavor. Delicious now, but give it a year or two. It will only get better. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2018 James Suckling Lovely barbaresco, with all the typical nebbiolo characteristics, such as red berries, mushrooms and dried leaves, as well as hints of bitter orange peel and spice. All this follows through to the medium-to full-bodied palate, where fine, lightly firm tannins add a little grip and additional focus. Compact, but bursting with flavor. Delicious now, but give it a year or two. It will only get better. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2018 Vinous Media The 2018 Barbaresco is an attractive, open-knit wine to drink now and over the next 10-15 years, maybe more. In 2018 the Produttori did not bottle their Riservas. Instead, all of the best lots of those grapes went into the straight Barbaresco bottling, another in a long string of successes from this historic house. Dark cherry, cedar, tobacco and spice fill out the layers. There is good depth and a good deal of tannin too, just not the complexity or nuance of the very best years. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2017 Wine & Spirits The Produttori del Barbaresco lost about 20 percent of their crop in the 2017 growing season due to frost and hail in the spring and a long drought in the summer, but what remained gave a fresh and exuberant wine packed with flavors of vibrant red cherry and zesty notes of orange peel. The Produttori typically offer one of the best quality-price ratios for Barbaresco, and the exciting 2017 version is no exception. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2017 Vinous Media The 2017 Barbaresco shows just how appealing this vintage can be. In 2017, the warm, dry growing season gave the Barbaresco an extra kick of richness that fills out its frame and adds so much immediacy. Sweet red berry fruit, cinnamon, rose petal and mint are open in the glass, but it is the wine’s seductive radiance that wins the day. Pora, Ovello, Montestefano, Muncagota and Rio Sordo are the main vineyards used for the straight Barbaresco. The 2017 is such an inviting and expressive wine. Don’t miss it! Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2017 Wine Spectator A beam of cherry introduces this lithe red, shaded by tar, eucalyptus, white pepper and earth notes. This is dense, with the tannins leaving a firm impression on the finish. Best from 2024 through 2037. 24,000 cases made, 8,500 cases imported. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2017 Wine Enthusiast Underbrush, powdered mint and balsamic notes of camphor segue over to the full-bodied palate along with dried cherry, star anise and toasted hazelnut. Taut, fine-grained tannins provide support. This shows the heat of the vintage so drink sooner rather than later to capture the remaining fruit and freshness. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine Enthusiast Enticing aromas of violet, woodland berry, loose vineyard soil, wild mint and a hint of spearmint shape the intensely fragrant nose. The tense, young palate is still nervous but already boasts finesse, showing wild raspberry, crunchy red cherry, white pepper and star anise. Firm, refined tannins and racy acidity give it a linear, almost austere elegance, while bright acidity keeps it focused and balanced. Drink 2026–2036. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine and Spirits This is Produttori del Barbaresco’s flagship wine, produced with fruit selected from their 54 growers, who collectively farm some 250 acres of vines, and it is a stunner in the 2016 vintage. It’s ripe and precise, the vibrant red fruit lifted by fresh floral scents and subtle spice. The tannins envelop that fruit like a soft leather glove, as brisk acidity propels the flavors toward a vertical finish. There’s no better bargain in Barbaresco, and with 22,000 cases produced, this should be on every serious Italian wine list and in every nebbiolo lover’s cellar. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine Enthusiast Enticing aromas of violet, woodland berry, loose vineyard soil, wild mint and a hint of spearmint shape the intensely fragrant nose. The tense, young palate is still nervous but already boasts finesse, showing wild raspberry, crunchy red cherry, white pepper and star anise. Firm, refined tannins and racy acidity give it a linear, almost austere elegance, while bright acidity keeps it focused and balanced. Drink 2026–2036. KERIN O’KEEFE Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine Advocate The 2016 Barbaresco is a tight and beautiful wine that will require more time to unwind and soften. This beautifully balanced vintage is characterized by a tight inner core of fruit that underlines the graceful aging capacity of these wines. The 2016 is shaping up to be one destined for long cellar aging. Now in its youth, the wine offers wild berry, rose and licorice aromas. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine Advocate This beautifully balanced vintage is characterized by a tight inner core of fruit that underlines the graceful aging capacity of these wines. The 2016 is shaping up to be one destined for long cellar aging. Now in its youth, the wine offers wild berry, rose and licorice aromas. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2016 Vinous Media The 2016 Barbaresco is a stunning wine with tremendous richness for this bottling. Ample, deep and powerful, the 2016 exudes pedigree and class from start to finish. I can't remember a straight Barbaresco here with this much fruit density and unctuous richness, and yet there is more than enough tannin and overall structure to give the wine its classically leaning feel. A blast of sweet red cherry fruit, tobacco, menthol licorice and smoke hits the potent finish. What a wine! Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2016 Wine Spectator Cherry, tar and menthol flavors mark this rich, silky red. Even more expansive on the palate, building to a long, complex aftertaste. Beautifully balanced, this picks up a minerally accent on the finish. Best from 2022 through 2038. 25,000 cases made, 7,500 cases imported. –BS Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2015 Wine Enthusiast Rose petal, dark spice and camphor aromas slowly take shape in the glass along with a whiff of tar. Juicy and delicious, the smooth full-bodied palate has a weightless elegance, delivering succulent Marasca cherry, ripe raspberry, licorice and tobacco while fine-grained tannins provide support. Drink 2021–2027. KERIN O’KEEFE Shelf Talker Full Page Review