Description
De Forville, Barbaresco
I’ll be honest: I considered just posting the picture of De Forville’s 2017 Barbaresco and typing in a few hundred exclamation points for the rest. I always struggle to find the right words to do justice to this monument of a wine (“monument” is a good one, actually).
Whether you’re just getting into elite red wines like Barbaresco or you’ve been collecting and enjoying them for years, De Forville Barbaresco is a cornerstone (ooh, “cornerstone” is good, too). Alongside the wines of the historic Produttori del Barbaresco, the impeccable De Forville lineup represents not just the greatest quality-to-price proposition in Barbaresco but in the broader world of wine. The amount of history, breed, ageability, consistency, and flat-out Nebbiolo greatness to be had for just $40 is just extraordinary. And while you might be tempted to think it a mass-market wine given its price, it’s got all the artisanal street cred one could ask for (it’s not a very large estate, and only about 600 cases of this wine make it to the US in any given vintage). I’ve been hyping, selling, and drinking this wine for 20+ years, but each new release is still cause for celebration. I can’t think of a recent vintage of this wine that didn’t over-deliver, but just to confirm: 2017 is a knockout. Don’t miss your chance!
Fruit for this flagship Barbaresco is sourced from vines averaging 35 years of age, and includes some grapes from well-known Barbaresco ‘cru’ vineyards such as “Rabaja” and “Pozzo.” Fermented in stainless steel and aged 18 months in large, used, Slavonian oak botti, it’s always a well-proportioned, aromatically complex Barbaresco archetype—the kind of one-stop master class in Piedmontese Nebbiolo I consider a rite of passage for anyone who loves wine. This is the kind of wine Master Sommeliers use to study for blind-tasting exams, because it is so spot-on. And as expected, it’s 2017’s turn on stage and it is already performing at an elite level: In the glass, it’s a medium garnet-red moving to pink at the rim, with a textbook nose of black cherry, wild red and black berries, roses, tar, leather, and a hint of black tea. It is medium-bodied and more modestly tannic than your typical young Barbaresco/Barolo, which makes it relatively approachable young: Even so, at least a half hour in a decanter is recommended; there’s clear structure for aging here and it should really be singing on its 10th birthday. Serve it in Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees and pair it with an unimpeachable Piedmontese classic—risotto. It deserves nothing less, and let me offer one last piece of advice: anything less than six bottles is not going to be enough! Cheers!
