Barbera d'Alba, Cantina Rizzi 2017

Cask sample. Quite reductive on the nose but lashings of dark fruit on the palate, all set against a very savoury backdrop. Really delicious - could be enjoyed right now (if it had been bottled!) Will be delicious upon arrival.

Enrico Dellapiana has some nice old parcels of Barbera that go into this bottling, as two of his three plots of Barbera were planted in were planted in 1965 and 1971. The third parcel is a bit younger, having been planted in 2008, but the blend of the three produced a fine wine in 2017. The bouquet here is bright and nicely ripe, offering up scents of red and black cherries, woodsmoke, nutskin, spit-roasted gamebird and a fine base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a very good core of fruit, a bit of chewy tannin, fine focus and grip and a long, impressively complex finish. This comes in listed at 14.5 percent octane, but carries its alcohol very well and does not show any backend heat. This is a ripe, but very good Barbera that should age quite nicely. 2020-2030+