2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Pora Riserva Barbaresco

2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Pora Riserva

95 AG

Featured Review

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Pora is a brooding wine, its mid-weight structure notwithstanding. Iron, smoke, tobacco, cedar and dried flowers add a feral, earthy quality that is so appealing. Pora is often one of the more approachable Riservas in this range, but the 2016 is an exception. Readers should be prepared to cellar it for at least a few years. Antonio Galloni

Vinous (Galloni) | 95 AG

Starting off this tasting of new Riservas from Produttori del Barbaresco is the 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Pora. This is a beautifully elegant and silky wine with a soft entry of wild berry fruit, lilac and wild rose. The bouquet opens gracefully with a fluid, slow-building intensity that feels silky and delicate to all the senses. It holds back from showing any overt or determined level of power, remaining instead silky and smooth throughout. It treads quietly and softly. Production is 13,403 bottles, and fruit is sourced from the Dellaferrera and Manzone family vineyards. I came back to this wine 24 hours after the bottle was open and added one more point to my score.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP

This red is saturated with bright cherry, strawberry and currant fruit. Mint, iron, tar and green, vegetal elements peek through as this evolves on the palate through the long finish. Assertive tannins put the grip on the finish, yet the intense fruit will come forward with time. Best from 2025 through 2045. 1,666 cases made, 350 cases imported.

Wine Spectator | 95 WS

Since 1958, 50 families have come together in this cooperative in order to share their grape production, making some of the best Barbaresco wines from a quality-price point of view. The fierce, classic character of the five-starred 2016 vintage emerges in this ruby-coloured Riserva. It's intensely floral, with fruit aromas ranging between strawberry and raspberry. A mineral tone of petrichor or wet slate introduces a savoury character, joined by firm, chewy tannins and acidity, still rugged at present but often able to evolve. A complex wine worth seeking out, even if it's not easy to drink right now. (Drink between 2022-2036)

Decanter | 93 DEC

(Barbaresco “Pora” Riserva- Produttori del Barbaresco) The Produttori’s 2016 Pora is again more red fruity out of the blocks than I am accustomed to in most young vintages of this bottling, which probably shows the beneficial aspect of the perfect Indian Summer ripening period in October of 2016. Like the Pajè in 2016, the Pora is already uncharacteristically very expressive aromatically, though it still carries it customary structural chassis for long aging. The bouquet jumps from the glass in a beautiful blend of red plums, cherries, spit-roasted venison, curry-like spice tones, forest floor, woodsmoke and a lovely mélange of both savory and floral aspects in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, chewy and full-bodied, with an excellent core of fruit, striking soil inflection, ripe, firm and chewy tannins, excellent focus and grip and a very long, nascently complex and classic finish. There is a beautiful synthesis here of the inherent elegance of the 2016 vintage and the sturdy style of the Pora vineyard that will make for a stellar bottle in the years to come! (Drink between 2035-2085).

John Gilman | 93 JG

Violet and mature berry aromas mingle with whiffs of underbrush and spice. On the firmly structured palate, blood orange, licorice and sandalwood accent a core of spirit-soaked cherries while tightly wound, fine-grained tannins provide the assertive backbone. The heat of evident alcohol lingers on the finish.

Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

Type of Wine	Barbaresco : A good Barbaresco traditionally conjures a perfume of powerful floral aroma, and massages your tastebuds with gentle violets and roses creating a juicy burst of cherry and truffle. If you decide to let the wine age, it can develop smokey, earthy notes that round out the experience beautifully. No one is left indifferent after tasting one of these masterpieces, we can assure you of that.
Varietal	Nebbiolo : Nebbiolo is the superstar grape variety and driving force behind the top-quality red wines of northwestern Italy. The Italian winegrowing appellation of Piedmont is covered by a sea of Nebbiolo grape vines. It is the undisputed king of grapes in the twin hillside villages of Barolo and Barbaresco, where some of the world’s most coveted wines hail from. Quality over quantity is the motto for this subtly powerful grape. A mere 5,500 hectares of Nebbiolo are cultivated around the world, of which, more than 4,000 are found in Langhe and Roero. The varietal has been growing here since the 1st century and has been called Nebbiolo since the 1200’s. Like most ancient grape varietals, there are many speculations as to its true origin, but what is certain is that in the hills of Langhe and Roero, Nebbiolo has found its ideal environment. Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon which is a versatile grape, Nebbiolo has not thrived when planted in wine regions outside of northern Italy. Nebbiolo is more like the finicky Pinot Noir: difficult to grow and highly reflective of terroir. The varietal thrives on calcareous marl, a lime-rich mudstone that is found on the right back of the Tanaro River (home to Barolo and Barbaresco) where it grows best in its warm climate and ample sunlight. The growing conditions in the hilly areas of Barolo and Barbaresco are optimal and produce some of the most sought after wines not only in Italy, but in the world. The Nebbiolo vine buds earlier than most grapes grown in Piedmont but harvested last. The berries do not appear until long after flowering, making it very susceptible to poor weather conditions. The name Nebbiolo is thought to have come from the Italian word for fog, nebbia, which is common during the fall when the local hillsides are covered in a ghostly haze. The iron fist in a velvet glove, which is a witty slogan for the wine of Barolo, can aptly be used to define the Nebbiolo grape itself. The thin-skinned, light colored grape packs a punch, producing wines that are light ruby when young and fades to a pale garnet when older. This characteristic should not be mistaken as watery; wine produced from Nebbiolo is super concentrated and flavorful with high acidity and tannins. When properly vinified, the best vintages will last for decades. Despite the challenges of this fussy grape, some growers in the “New World” are trying their hand at harvesting Nebbiolo. In South Australia young producers are making wines that are fruiter and less tannic than their Italian counterparts. This novel take on the Italian grape has prompted California, Chile and South Africa to begin small plantings of Nebbiolo. The iron fist in a velvet glove, the undisputed king of Piedmont and the deceptively powerful Nebbiolo grape may be limited in quantity, much-coveted, nearly exclusive to Italy, demands aging and can sometimes command high prices; the wait, the price and the difficulty in finding it is rewarded with one of the greatest wines made from the mighty Nebbiolo grape varietal.
Country	Italy : Italy is renowned as one of the world’s greatest gastronomic havens; from certified Prosciutto di Parma to the sea-side seafood eateries on the island of Sicily. However, this epicurean experience could not possibly be as hedonistic without the ethereal combination of the country’s plethora of fine wines. It seems unfair that a nation should be able to boast, both, some of the world’s greatest cuisine as well as its greatest wines. Italian wine is one of the most sought after in the world, and has become the second most produced in the world, behind only France. Stretching an impressive 736 miles from northern Italy to the peninsula’s southern tip, the country’s geography generates an enormous array of topography, climate and soil structure. This is an extremely important quality of its winegrowing and making industry which lays claim to nearly 550 different grape varietals, which all desire their own necessities, in terms of terroir and climate. The still red wines of Italy truly characterize the nation’s vast and expansive terroir; Nebbiolo dominates Piedmont, where Barolo and Barbaresco reign king and queen of the region’s production. Hailing from Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany, the rockstar Sangiovese grape has become synonymous with greatness. Vin Santo sweet wines have taken on a mighty feat of competing with the glorious wines of Sauternes, and of course, Prosecco. Prosecco, located in Trieste (northeast Italy) and its creation of luxuriously effervescent styles of wine has become Italy’s answer to Champagne. The Glera grape variety, which has become synonymous with the name Prosecco, is the main ingredient and is beloved in the appellation where the village of Prosecco’s name has become world renowned. The blurred boundary between Italy and the countries of Slovenia and Austria, where German influence still resonates through Friuli wines. The prevalence of Riesling and other such grape varietals is high in this region and have become extremely popular on today’s market. With nearly 702,000 hectares of grapevines covering the massive and diverse landscape, Italy’s annual average of 48.3 million hectoliters of wine production is second only to France in terms of volume and Spain in terms of hectares of vines. The country is vast and overwhelming when it comes to the culinary arts, but perhaps even this is overshadowed by its production of some of the world’s most sought after wines, whether the omnipresent Chianti to the highly collectible and sought after Amarone della Valpolicalla.
Subregion	Barbaresco
Appellation	Barbaresco
Climat/Vineyard	Pora
Cru	Riserva