2016 Produttori del Barbaresco "Montefico" Barbaresco Riserva

“The 2016 Barbaresco Montefico is a jewel of a wine. Freshly cut flowers, minerals, crushed rocks, rose petal and lavender are all finely cut. As always, the Montefico is tense and chiseled in style. Its sense of transparency is simply beguiling. Sage, mint and sweet pipe tobacco are some of the nuances that linger. The Montefico is a Barbaresco that will thrill readers who enjoy taut reds. It blends the fruit richness of the Montestefano with the verve of Ovello. (AG)” (10/2020)

“This Riserva pours from the bottle with a medium dark appearance, showing more color saturation and fruit concentration than the other wines in this series. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico (with 10,136 bottles released) is a wine of power and density, and you sense this clearly in the aromatic determination and heft delivered here. (Like the other Riservas in this group, it clocks in at a 15% alcohol content.) The fruit tones veer toward dark purple and black, with plum and wild blackberries. There are earthy tones as well, with potting soil and iron ore. This wine plays its cards of volume and width with an expert hand, thanks to a blend of fruit from the vineyards of the Casetta, Grasso, Rocca and Vacca families. (ML)” (06/2021)

“There is some weight and richness to this red, allied to cherry and plum flavors. Flourishing notes of iron, tobacco and black pepper add detail, while the dusty, nervous tannins emerge on the long finish. Shows more structure today, yet this has all the components in the right place. (BS)” (11/2021)

“As one might imagine, the combination of the inherent elegance of the 2016 vintage and the great refinement of the Montefico vineyard is absolutely magical. The very pure and detailed bouquet offers up scents of black cherries, anise, red curry, fresh-picked oregano, a gorgeous base of soil tones, coffee bean, a hint of road tar, gamebird and a topnote of distant bonfire on the evening breeze. On the palate the wine is precise, complex and full-bodied, with seamless balance, a great core, superb mineral undertow and grip, laser-like focus and a long, complex and ripely tannic finish. This is a simply brilliant bottle of Barbaresco in the making!” (03/2021)