Produttori Barbaresco with Aldo Vacca @ Vintages & il Casale, Belmont, MA 6/12/2014

Produttori del Barbaresco 2009 Horizontal and More with Aldo Vacca
@ VINTAGES Adventures in Wine Store & il Casale Restaurant, Belmont, MA (6/12/2014)

This was an in-store tasting, followed by a dinner, organized by VINTAGES Adventures in Wine, an excellent wine store in Belmont, MA (with another store in West Concord, MA). Both the tasting and the dinner included a horizontal of most of the 2009 Produttori Barbarescos. The tasting was held at the store. The dinner was held a few doors down the street at il Casale Restaurant. The guest of honor for the evening was the managing director of the Produttori del Barbaresco, Aldo Vacca.

The food at il Casale was excellent and well-matched to the wines.

All the wines for the tasting were opened around 5pm. The tasting began at 6pm, but I arrived around 7pm. The dinner started around 8pm and lasted till 11pm.

This is the fourth Produttori dinner in which I have participated. The others can be found on the FWG Tasting Notes Page.

The Produttori del Barbaresco is a cooperative in the Commune of Barbaresco. You can find much more information about the winery and its wines at the Fine Wine Geek's Produttori page. Also, more detailed pictures of the bottles from this tasting.

For any image, click on it for a larger view of that image which may contain more picture.

The In-Store Tasting

The wines were tasted in alphabetical order, except for the flight of 3 Rabajas at the end. This was a stand up tasting in the back of the store with Aldo doing most of the pouring, as well as answering questions.

VINTAGES Adventures in Wine.

Aldo Vacca & the wines.

2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Tannic, sweet and bitter. Red fruit. Tried again at the end of the tasting, then later with dinner. Still bitter. No one else said anything, so I don't if this was an off bottle or just needs some time. (88 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
More complex aromatics. Sweet and ripe. One of the best wines of the tasting. Showing even better at dinner. (93 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Big sweet nose. Chewy tannins. Good structure. A good showing for Ovello. (92 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pajé - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Ripe fruit, a touch of mint. Tasty, long juicy finish. Even better at dinner. Long and elegant. (93 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Juicy, tannic backbone, tight. Sweet and yummy at dinner. (92 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Muted nose. A touch watery in the mouth. Dried fruit. (88 points)
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Muted nose. Bigger and more structured in the mouth than any of the others. Great length. My favorite of the 2009 tasting along with the Montestefano and Pajé. (93 points)
2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Expressive complex nose. Sweet fruit with great length. Has an appeal that none of the 2009's can match at this time, and maybe ever. (94 points)
2005 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Sweet red fruit nose. Mellow, but a touch watery. Maybe just not showing as well after the ripeness of the 2007. (91 points)

The Dinner Wines
All the 2009's from the in-store tasting were retasted at dinner. My notes on those wines are included above. Below are the additional wines opened for the tasting. As far as I know, these were all pop and pour.

2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose of black fruit and tar. Thick and silky with some tannin on a tart dry finish. Quite appealing. (91 points)
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Elegant, rich, balanced. Has a class that none of the 2009's can match. Long life ahead. WOTN along with the 1999 Pajé. (95 points)
1985 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Magnum. I don't think it was a sound bottle. (NR)
1999 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pajé - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Very young and tannic, but opening as it goes. Gorgeous red fruit. A terrific young wine. (94-95 points)

I think 2009 is a good rather than great vintage for the Produttori. The quality is still good, in part due to smaller quantities being produced of many of the crus. My favorites of the 2009's were the Montestefano, the Pajé, and the Rabaja. The single vineyard wines from 2007, 2004 and 1999 showed better imo. Note that we did not get to taste the 2009 Riserva from Asili or Muncagota.

Notes posted from CellarTracker.

Dinner Pix