Ronchi Barbaresco 2019
-
Wine &
Spirits -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Giancarlo Rocca makes this Barbaresco with fruit from the Ronchi MGA, where his winery is located, as well as from several other estate vineyards. He ages the wine in large Slavonian casks to retain pure flavors of freshly crushed cherry, raspberry and orange peel. The wine feels focused and integrated, gaining warm spice notes and a hint of forest floor with exposure to air even as the fruit flavors remain tangy and mouthwatering.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Barbaresco (Red Label) is more floral with rose petal, cherry candy, and cinnamon. It is medium bodied but has more of an arch through the mid-palate and has a light gamey note. Fairly long, with ripe, good tannin structure, it is approachable and showing well. Best After 2024
Other Vintages
2018-
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
Winemaker Giancarlo Rocca and three generations of the Rocca clan live in a house built by the family, surrounded by ‘Ronchi’ cru vines. This natural amphitheater not only captures the sun to push Nebbiolo to perfect ripeness but also is stunningly picturesque.
Although we have worked with the Rocca family for at least a decade, their peerless Nebbiolo wines are still an insider’s find. The “Ronchi” cru runs along the southern edge of the appellation, near the historic town of Barbaresco. Bordered by ‘Montestefano’ to the north, where Nebbiolo shows a deep complexity and elegant tannins, and ‘Moccagatta’ to the south, the source of silky Nebbiolo with delicate yet intense perfumes, ‘Ronchi’ combines the best of all these attributes in a wine that is unforgettable.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
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 neighboring 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.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.