The Style
- One of the Leading Neoclassical Producers
- Aromatics Are Simply Haunting
- They Make You Appreciate the Beauty of Nature
- Like Inhaling a Field of Flowers on a Perfect Spring Day
- The Finesse of the Great Wines in Our Portfolio
- Very Traditional in Profile
- The Consistent Quality of the Best Winemakers of 2021
2016 Vini Barbaglia Boca
- One of the Truly Great Alto Piemonte Wines We've Sold
- So Nuanced
- Incredibly Haunting and Elegant
- Such a Cerebral Wine
- Nose: Absolutely Transporting
- Aromatics and Complexities of the Forest Floor
- In 2016 There Are Rich, Aromatic Cherry Fruits
- Cherry Flower, Pulverized Dried Cherries
- Licorice, Spice and Floral
- Dizzying Aromatics of Great Nebbiolo
- Palate: Like Elite Classical Barbaresco in 2016
- Really Beautiful and Intense Internal Aromatics
- Red and Black Cherries and Flowers
- Dense, Sweet, Structured and Powerful
- So Nuanced
- Think Chambolle-Musigny from a Bertheau or Mugnier for Context
- Insane Concentration - but Not Overtly Fruited
2019 Vini Barbaglia Colline Novaresi Uva Rara
- An All Time Fass Selections Value at $21.99
- Gorgeously Perfumed Nose
- Roses, Lavender, Spice, Cherries
- Raspberries, Spice Cake
- Lovely Mineral Undertone
- Absolutely Dizzying Aromas
- Palate: Rich and Ripe but with Stunning Freshness
- Textured and Mouth-Filling
- Mega Juicy
- Lovely Inner Mouth Florals
- Case Pricing Alarm - $19.99
The Two Schools of Alto Piemonte Wine
As Alto Piemonte wines have become more popular and more producers are entering the region, I've noticed 2 distinct styles.- The first is a style where the fruit is a bit more forward like a well made traditional Langhe wine. The fruits normally veer towards being a bit darker. Aromatics are there but more in balance or in the background. I would include in this our own Guardasole and Il Chiosso, particularly the stunning Riservas.
- The second is more a wine where the aromatics and secondary flavors are most important. These are more like consistent versions of older Alto Piemonte wines. Yes, the fruit is there but the aromatics and secondary characteristics are the stars of the show. Much of our portfolio is in this category but Barbaglia is one of the leaders in this category along with Delsignore, Podere ai Valloni, Chiussuma and La Badina.
This second style is I think the more distinctive of the 2 from the standpoint that you can only really get this kind of Nebbiolo here and maybe a few remaining producers in the Langhe (e.g. Giacosa, our own Rocche dei Barbari) and Valtellina (Ar.Pe.Pe and Motalli Renato). I call it "Neoclassical" because they are working to assure a quality product every year. They are not just letting the grapes grow, picking at the same time and hoping for the best.
The Style
One of the most devastating losses we experienced as a company was when Silvia Barbaglia went with
another importer. We were gutted. I adored the wines and so did many of you. She was one of our first Boca producers and one of the top producers in Alto Piemonte. Now she is back with us and the 2016 may be the best wine from the estate we have ever sold.
These wines are among the most gorgeous wines that we sell. It's hard to describe it but they evoke a unique natural beauty that is very hard to put into words. Like the great wines of Burgundy and select very traditional Northern Rhone wines the aromatics are haunting. You can hardly even believe that something so beautiful exists when you smell them.
Not only is Silvia's Boca special, her mono varietal classic Alto Piemonte grapes are brilliant. The same level of quality, attention and detail in the Colline Novaresi Uva Rara, Croatina and Nebbiolo is shared with the Boca. They are all some of the best examples of Colline Novaresi I've tasted. The quality of the early accessible fruit and more elegance has made the wines so unreal to drink young. Usually on the older vintages we sold when we were working with her before needed 5-6 years for Boca, 3-4 years for Colline Novarese wines. Now those are optional as the fruit and elegance are so awesome they can be drunk young and enjoyed.
The 2016 Vintage
The Boca has the finesse of a great Barbaresco and in 2016, it is the best young Boca from that vintage I've tasted. It's a marvel and an important benchmark wine in the continuing story of Boca. But it also shows skilled winemaking with a step up in texture and quality of fruit. But the trademark finesse is here better than ever before and that is why I think it's a benchmark. For under $50 you get potentially the best producer of a super hot and up and coming area in a top vintage that not only compares to great Langhe wines but surpasses many. The 2016 is the ultimate ringer in a great Langhe tasting. It would do so well. It blew me away like few Italian wines have recently. It was as accessible as a young Barbaglia Boca I've had but also has the stuffing to last 25+ years. Silvia has really upped her game. She works extremely hard and loves the region and is an ambassador for the region as much as anyone I've ever met. The 2016 is her masterpiece.
Fair Warning!!
I will warn you - Silvia is selling out of some of her wines already. In the middle of a pandemic with almost all of the restaurants closed. And her winery is in the middle of nowhere so she doesn't get much foot traffic. She has the savvy and dedication to make Barbaglia as famous as it deserves to be.
I fear that once things go back to normal, these wines will be allocated so I'd secure my allocations if I were you.
The Wines
So without further ado the 2016 Vini Barbaglia Boca can be had for $43.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a brilliant wine and $44 for this is just a pittance for the level of quality you are getting here.
Such a brilliant nose. The nose on this wine is transporting. It carries all of the aromatics and complexities of the forest floor with hints (and eventually more than hints with a bit of air) of forest fruits. Smoke and mesquite as well. There is an unusual sparseness to the vineyards as many are in clearings you have to drive through dense forest to find. That comes across in the nose. If Nebbiolo was grown on volcanic soils surrounded by wild forest it would smell like this. But now in 2016 there is rich, aromatic cherry fruits that add a level of thrill that was not there before. Cherry flower. Pulverized dried cherries. So aromatic. Licorice. Spice and floral in the background which comes to the foreground with air. Gets that dizzying
almost too much aroma great Nebbiolo can get after a while. Wow the cherry is so vivid. What lift. So elegant and pure. What elegance! But has that Boca structure and tannin. So so elegant. Best young Barbaglia Boca ever.
The palate is nuanced, haunting, elegant, cerebral and just flat out gorgeous. It is dense and structured in 2016 but so refined. Yet it retains that Barbaglia prettiness. Ethereal, dense yet focused with super precise sweet black and red cherry fruit with really, really beautiful and intense internal aromatics of those red and black cherries and flowers. I cannot believe how delicate this wine is yet also dense, sweet, structured and powerful. It's really poetry on the palate. Terrific acid balance and the traditional even more than usual Fass juiciness. Incredible sweet tannins. Super juicy. Despite its relative nuanced nature (think Chambolle-Musigny from a Bertheau or Mugnier for context) for Piedmont Nebbiolo, you can taste the concentration and structure in the wine.
Terrific inner mouth aromas. Fruit and florals. Insane concentration and such a baby! So refined. Really refined tannins. Wow this is exquisite. As it opens it becomes more integrated. Terrific ripe tannins. Really refined stuff.
The tannins are so well done and perfectly ripe that the fruit and structure and tannin all meld into a harmonious whole. But with age this will be a true knockout.
It is 80% Nebbiolo 20% Vespolina and was aged for 2 years in large oak barrels and then aged 2 years in bottle.
Next up is the remarkable value. And I mean remarkable value. I cannot believe how much wine is in the bottle for how little money. The 2019 Vini Barbaglia Colline Novaresi Uva Rara can be had for $21.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and special case price of $19.99. This is an all time Fass Selections value.
Gorgeously perfumed nose. Roses, lavender, spice, soppy cherries and just so so aromatic. Like Piedmontese bath salts. So so impressive. Lovely mineral undertone and gets more floral with air. Dizzying aromas. So so good. After some air it gets better. awesome nose. Aromas of soppy raspberries, spice cake and aromatic soaps. So nice. So distinctive.
Palate is rich and ripe but with stunning freshness. Just electric and alive. So textured and mouth-filling. So juicy and teeming with energy. Lovely inner mouth florals. Delicious, fresh, grippy and juicy and so well made. Long. Just terrific. Palate is mega juicy. So nimble.
2016 Vini Barbaglia Boca - $45.99 ($175.96 4-Pack)
2019 Vini Barbaglia Colline Novaresi Uva Rara - $23.99
($87.96 4-Pack, $239.88 12 Bottle Case {$19.99)
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