| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | Italy > Piedmont > Barbaresco |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello is bright and piercing, as it so often is, and yet it also has more than enough fruit to fill out its mid-weight, energetic frame. Pine, mint, crushed rocks and sweet red plum build into the huge, piercing finish. The Ovello is another wine in this range that demands patience. Even in the early going it is super impressive. The 2014 s an unusually dense, packed Ovello. It should be terrific in another few years' time.
My preview tasting of the 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello reveals a wine of beautiful intensity and impressive potential. The cooler 2014 summer season has helped to develop greater acidity that holds the fiber of this wine tightly together. The 2013 vintage is velvetier in comparison, with looser stitching in its fiber. Instead, the 2014 vintage shows a very polished, firm and tonic personality. I tasted this sample after bottling, but the wine will hit the market toward the end of this year. This Barbaresco Riserva will require extra cellar time to relax and unwind.
Vineyard size: 20.3 ha (50 acres). Vineyard exposure: south-west/south-east. Soil: limestone and clay. Vinification: fermentation at 30 °C (85 °F), 28 days’ skin contact, malolactic completed. Ageing: 36 months in large oak barrels and 12 months in bottle. Bottling date: April 2018. Total production: 17,240 bottles and 1,232 magnums. This is bottle number 2192. Mid ruby with orange tinges. Ripe, cool raspberry with quite a bit of concentration underneath, but still quite closed. Concentrated raspberry and strawberry palate with a linear, precise vein of acidity running all the way through. It gets more perfumed by the second while sitting in the glass. Bags of powdery tannins lining the concentrated, fresh raspberry fruit. 14% Drink 2020-2030
Vineyard size: 20.3 ha (50 acres). Vineyard exposure: south-west/south-east. Soil: limestone and clay. Vinification: fermentation at 30 °C (85 °F), 28 days’ skin contact, malolactic completed. Ageing: 36 months in large oak barrels and 12 months in bottle. Bottling date: April 2018. Total production: 17,240 bottles and 1,232 magnums. This is bottle number 2192. Mid ruby with orange tinges. Ripe, cool raspberry with quite a bit of concentration underneath, but still quite closed. Concentrated raspberry and strawberry palate with a linear, precise vein of acidity running all the way through. It gets more perfumed by the second while sitting in the glass. Bags of powdery tannins lining the concentrated, fresh raspberry fruit. 14% Drink 2020-2030
