- 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
- Compare at $50-$68 for Less Expensive Vintages
2014 Vini Barbaglia Metodo Classico Spumante "Curticella Rose"
- Very, Very Serious Sparkling Rose
- If You Drink Rose Champagne You Sort of Have to Try This
- Rose Champagne's Brilliant Geeky Cousin
- Smells Like a Spectacular Old School Uva Rara
- Has That Nebbiolo DNA
- Huge Nose of Tar, Smoke, Leather, Spice, Cherries, Old Chestnut
- Gorgeously Refined and Vivid White Cherries
- Very Elegant
- So Delicate
- Palate: Amazing Complexity
- Terrific Concentration and Purity
- Incredibly Detailed Minerality
- Lovely Citrus Fruit and Nice Sap
- Stunning Juiciness
- Crazy Value for 7 Year Old "Vintage Alto"
- Only 60 Bottles!
2017 Vini Barbaglia Colline Novaresi Croatina
- Soaring Aromas of Deep Purple Fruits, Plum Skins, Blackberry
- Spice, Spice Cake
- Lovely Flowers, Tree Bark and Orange Rind
- Minerals
- Palate - Insane
- Big, Amazingly Juicy
- Dense to the nth Power
- Massive Sweet Fruit Soak
- Charming and Wonderful
- Great Purity and Depth
- Superb Concentratio
- Winter Arrival - A Crazy Value to Drink with Winter Food
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
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.
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 is given to the Uva Rara and Croatina as the Nebbiolo. 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 Alto Piemonte and 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.
Wine #1
So without further ado the 2016 Vini Barbaglia Boca can be had for $44.99 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. Compare at $50-$68 for less expensive vintages.
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.
Wine #2
The biggest secret about the brilliant red wine maker, Silvia Barbaglia is that she is maybe one of the most talented sparkling winemakers in all of Italy. It's been 3-4 years since we have offered her brilliant Erbaluce "Curticella" and today we have one of the most crazy, delicious, unique and outrageous sparklers we have ever sold. The genius 2014 Vini Barbaglia Metodo Classico Spumante "Curticella Rose" Brut for $44.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. This wine will is so insane you'll be in a straight jacket after you have a glass. It's made from 100% Uva Rara. What is Uva Rara? It's primarily a blending grape but its name is a bit of a misnomer in that it is not that rare. There are over 600 hectares planted and the style is typically soft and fruity but wonderfully perfumed.
The color is gorgeous. It's got a brilliant pink color like onion skin and with hints of coral.
What is so spectacular about this wine is that is really smells like a spectacular old school Uva Rara but has Nebbiolo DNA. Yet it's rose and sparkling. It's ridiculous. Gorgeous nose. This is insane. Huge nose of tar, smoke, leather, spice, cherries, old chestnut, wood shop, smells like Uva Rara from yesteryear. Insane. Wow. Toasty, chestnut, yeasty, mineral with gorgeously refined and vivid white cherries as well. The wine is so refined.
The palate is very elegant and so delicate. The finesse and breeding of this wine is unbelievable. But one only has to taste Silvia's stunningly elegant and achingly beautiful Colline Novarese Uva Rara from 2014 to get why this sparkler is so delicate and refined. That's her style. The wines are all like the softest satin but sacrificing no structural integrity. This will age for a long time. The palate has just amazing complexity. That's what intrigues you and the delicacy and texture are what keep you sipping more and more. The mousse is so delicate and fine and really incredibly impressive. Really great acidity and just incredibly detailed minerality. Honestly, my note says that the "minerality rocks the palate to every corner" which makes no sense because your palate has no corners, but you get the idea. Lovely citrus fruit and nice sap. Really incredibly stunning juiciness. There is not a lot of autolytic tastes or aromas as the terror shines through in the form of a very low dosage and incredible minerality. Terrific concentration and purity. So dense and yet so elegant. This is brilliant. Sappy. So long. The persistent mineral, citrus/sap finish is incredible and the little bit of tannin buffering it all is so cool. Silvia was so happy I loved it as this is a unique and interesting wine and she has never really tasted it with many people. Only 60 bottles!
Wine #3
The last wine is what I like to call "refined rustic." One of the charms of Italian wine is that most of them have a sense of rusticity. Rusticity is one of those dog-whistle wine words that has a bad rap. When you say rustic to many or good with food people think it's not good wine. Which is crazy as I've described wines like Pegau CDP, Monfortino and Monprivato as rustic. What does it mean? It's means it's rustic. Like those charming thatched cottages in England or the old stone walls you see around the Côte d'Or. That's rustic. It can be defined as something that is made with no pretense in a plain and simple fashion. The Italians make rustic better than anyone and it's hard to escape it even in the most celebrated wines but I think that's what people truly love about Italian wines is the rusticity. Today wine is the epitome of all what Italy does right in the under $23 category.
I have the 2017 Vini Barbaglia Colline Novaresi Croatina today for $21.99 a bottle on a 4 pack purchase. Croatina with age! Only at Fass Selections.
This is a dark colored wine that has soaring aromas of deep purple fruits, plum skins, spice, spice cake and lovely flowers and minerals. It's got earth. Tree bark and orange rind. Big time earth! Chewy nose if there ever was one. Also some jammy blackberry after air.
But the palate is what the story is really about. It's insane. Big, amazingly juicy and dense to the nth power and yes, rustic! Amazing velvety tannins and out of this world, next level freshness. Massive sweet fruit soak. But so balanced and so juicy and so much deep dark fruit. It is utterly charming and wonderful. Huge purity and depth. Very dark and almost silky. Superb concentration. With a nice big pork roast or an ossubucco, this is what to choose. The age is great as it seemed to harmonize all the parts to it. It's really something and a tremendous wine. It has ripe and juicy tannins and if one has to compare it to anything please let it be traditional old school Dolcetto from Dogliani from the standpoint of pure enjoyment.
2016 Vini Barbaglia Boca - $46.99 ($179.96 4-Pack)
2014 Vini Barbaglia Spumante Metodo Classico "Curticella Rose" - $46.99 ($134.97 3-Pack)
2017 Vino Barbaglia Colline Novarese "Croatina" - $23.99
($87.96 4-pack)
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