2016 Produttori del Barbaresco "Montestefano" Barbaresco Riserva

“Subtle and complex aromas of dried fruit, fresh plums, kerosene, dried flowers and pencil. Racy and vibrant with intense, pulsating acidity and tightrope tannins. It shows complexity and a long finish. A wine to decant, or cellar. Delicious. (Panel Tasting)” (12/2022)

“This is usually the last wine in this series of nine, representing the most powerful and concentrated side of the Nebbiolo spectrum as interpreted by Produttori del Barbaresco. The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano (with 12,516 bottles released) is rich and darkly saturated, with a plush and opulent bouquet that is redolent of red berry, dried raspberry and candied orange peel. This is a blend of fruit from vineyards owned by the Gonella, Maffei, Marcarino, Rivella, Rocca and Vacca families. You feel the density of the wine on the palate, thanks to firm tannins and lots of extra fruit weight and texture. Despite that extra muscle (and the usual 15% alcohol content), Montestefano also shows a soft and especially enriched personality. (ML)” (06/2021)

“The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is another profound wine in this lineup. There is virtually no perception of tannin, as the fruit is so rich and so voluptuous. Dark cherry/plum fruit, spice, menthol, licorice and a whole range of balsamic inflections grow as the Montestefano shows off its class. This profound Barbaresco will thrill readers for years to come. (AG)” (10/2020)

“Singed by licorice, the plum, black cherry, tar and iron flavors are dense and tightly packed with the solid structure in this dynamic red. The fruit component offers great purity and intensity midpalate, followed by a strong grip of tannins on the finish. (BS)” (11/2021)

“The 2016 Montestefano is so quintessentially expressive of this vineyard this year that I would not hesitate to use this wine for the next fifty years if I were going to try and demonstrate to wine students what the terroir of Montestefano tastes like! Some years, the vintage’s characteristics seem to define a wine as much as its underlying terroir, but this is not the case with the great year of 2016 in Piemonte! The bouquet here is precise, deep and beautifully black fruity, wafting from the glass in a mix of black cherries, sweet dark berries, a touch of cigar wrapper, licorice, dark soil tones, a hint of road tar, incipient notes of curry and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and rock solid at the core, with broad shoulders, excellent structural chassis and focus, firm tannins and a long, tangy and still quite primary finish. This is impeccably balanced and is going to be a great vintage of Montestefano in due time, but it is going to need plenty of bottle age to soften up its considerable tannins.” (04/2021)