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Barbera d'Alba, Cantina Rizzi 2018

Tasting Notes

Enrico Dellapiana at Cantina Rizzi is making just superb wines these days and this was one of the finest Barberas I tasted for this report. His Barbera is aged in a combination of old botti, cement vats and stainless steel tanks. The 2018 is a beautiful example of this underrated varietal, with the nose jumping from the glass in a sappy blend of red and black cherries, nutskin, gamebird, a lovely base of soil tones, roses, a touch of fresh oregano and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, ripe and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, lovely soil undertow and grip, a bit of ripe tannin and a long, complex and very classy finish. This comes in at 14.5 percent octane- in the style of this ripe vintage, but is impeccably balanced and will age effortlessly (if one can keep their hands off of the bottles in the cellar). If you have not yet discovered just how good Enrico’s wines are these days, then this is a beautiful introductory bottle to give you some idea of the classically-styled fireworks going on with the Barbaresco Crus here! 2021-2030

91
John Gilman, View From the Cellar (94), August 2021
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.