It’s widely known that Piedmont’s Barolos and Barbarescos can mature for decades, but have you aged a humble Langhe Nebbiolo for a few years before popping the cork?
Produttori del Barbaresco is the most famous and sought-after red wine cooperative in the world. Everyone wants to be a member, but only the 52 best growers make the cut. For the 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo, their ‘fantastic’ (Kerin O’Keefe) entry-level wine, all the fruit comes from Barbaresco-designated vineyards, which makes it ‘a true rarity’, says Antonio Galloni of Vinous.
This is the wine that drew many of our team into more serious wine buying and cellaring. We’ve had incredible decade-old bottles of the Langhe Nebbiolo. The quality is more than you can ever dream of at this price, and the enjoyment factor is through the roof.
Don’t be fooled by its light red colour and delicate aromatics. This Nebbiolo shows fragrant notes of rose, violet, dried herb and wild red berry and the medium-bodied palate is intense, spicy and chalky, laced with all the subtleties of its northern Italian terroir. Expect lots of energy and delicacy on the finish. We cannot recommend this wine and producer highly enough.
If you’re interested in their rare, ‘drop-dead gorgeous’ single-vineyards, check out our 2019 Riserva packs (full or mini).
Tasting Notes:
Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo 2023
‘The 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo from Produttori del Barbaresco is a fantastic wine that offers beautiful aromas of perfumed face powder, violet, rose and fragrant wild berry. Showing great tension, the spicy, savory palate features tart cherry, crushed strawberry, clove, white pepper and star anise alongside lithe tannins. Drink through 2026.’ – Kerin O’Keefe, kerinokeefe.com, 93/100
‘A very light translucent ruby red colour belies a wine that shows an intensely rich, ripe, fragrant fruit driven aromatics packed full of red plum jam, red cherry, Pink Lady red apples, and cranberry notes over earthy aniseed, fennel root spice and subtle cinchona quinine bark nuances. The palate entry is intense yet majestically soft and seamless with polished stony tannins that melt into a tangy, bright mouthwatering red cherry acidity. The finish is energetic and pithy, delicately phenolic with red apple spice, a delicate sapidity and a long juicy finely textured finish. Always a top class wine that overdelivers vintage after vintage, the 2023 release carries on this tradition. Drink now to 2034+.’ – Greg Sherwood MW, 92+/100
‘This wine was bottled approximately one month before I tasted it in October and was set to hit the market in November 2024. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo shows a shiny ruby appearance and offers crunchy fruit flavors with blueberry and tart raspberry. Fruit is collected from the sites and the warmer microclimates that don’t end up in the Barbaresco program, and the wine sees a shorter maceration time, lasting 21 days.’ – Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, 92/100
