2017 Montaribaldi Ricü Barbaresco

The vineyard is located in the Barbaresco and Treiso municipalities at an altitude of around 300 meters with a south-western location with its famous neighbor Gaja. Of course this is made from 100% Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo is a late-ripening grape variety and for the Montaribaldi Ricü Barbaresco, the grapes are only picked in the 2nd or 3rd week of October. After the first selection in the vineyard a 2nd selection takes place on the selection tables and only the right grapes are destemmed and lightly bruised. They are then put in stainless steel thermo-conditioned tanks where the alcoholic fermentation takes place. The alcoholic fermentation lasts about one week at a temperature of 28-32 ° C. At Montaribaldi one is not in a hurry and the wine is then left in complete contact with its lees at a temperature of 20-22 ° C. the grapes from the 2 vineyards vinified separately and now the wines are ready to be tasted and blended according to their characteristics and what the winemaker wants to bring out in the desired proportion. After this blending, the wine is allowed to mature again for 30 months in both new and once used barriques (225 L).

Finally, after 3 years from the harvest, the Barbaresco DOCG Ricü is bottled and stays in the cellars of Montaribaldi for at least 6 months before being released on the market. This insanely beautiful, sturdy Barberesco has a deep garnet red color with orange reflexes. Many layers in the nose with pleasant notes of wood, ripe fruit and spices. On the palate, this full bodied wine has a very good structure with strong, chewy but soft tannins and a warm and lingering finish. So enjoy and this Barbaresco DOCG Ricü Montarbaldi is perfect to combine with red and roasted meat, game, truffles, mushrooms and savory aged cheese.

This is a wine for true wine lovers and connoisseurs and the type of wine to store (very) long in the cellar.

BAROLO VS BARBARESCO

Piemont - synonymous with truffles, risotto and, of course, delicious wines! - is considered one of the best wine regions of Italy. The local conditions of terrain, soil and weather make some fantastic wines. As far as the red wines are concerned, the Barolo's and Barbaresco's are world-famous, powerful aging wines. Although the Barolo and Barbaresco are made from the same grape, Nebbiolo, and produced in adjacent areas less than 16km apart, the Barbaresco and Barolo wines have some distinctive differences.

The Barbaresco area is located south of the River Tanaro and the area, due to its location, has a slightly higher average temperature which allows the Nebbiolo grape to ripen just a little earlier here than in the Barolo area. Young tannins in a young Barbaresco are often not as hard as Barolo and under DOCG rules it is allowed to release Barbaresco for sale a year earlier than Barolo. The most pronounced difference between the two wines is that Barbaresco's tannins tend to soften more quickly with the wine being more accessible than Barolo at a younger age. The Barbaresco area is smaller than the Barolo area with an annual production of about 35% of the Barolo production with the result that Barbaresco is not widely available on the market.