2010 La Spinetta, Barbera D’ Asti DOCG, Ca’ Di Pian, Piedmonte, Italy.
This is great stuff, and I’ve always admired this bottling of Barbera from Giorgio Rivetti, along with his wonderful Barbaresco Crus and the very special Gallina Barbera. It’s always been the Ca’ Di Pian that I come back to every year to enjoy, it’s a comfort wine for me, it offers up dark flavors, mineral notes and a bit of earthy rusticness that appeals to me and the 2010 really stands out. The Ca’ Di Pian by La Spinetta starts a little awkward and slightly funky with a touch of reduction showing hoisin sauce, a hint of beef’s blood and alcohol warm, but give it a few minutes and there’s a rush of fruit, spice and complexity in the glass with blackberry, figs and morello cherry along with spiced plum and wild fennel/anise and stony/graphite, while time allows even more complex flavors of blueberry, dried flowers, coffee grinds, loam and cedar/sandalwood to come into play. The Ca’ Di Pian comes from vines that average 25 plus years, it gets 12 months of wood aging, another 6 months in steel vats before bottling, it is given time to mature before release, this vintage hits about 14% and is pretty full bodied. The color is deep with and purple core and garnet/red edges and there’s good depth on the palate with supple ripe tannins, a juicy soft acidity and a nice play between sweet fruit and savory elements, this is one of La Spinetta’s most raw and traditional wines, it has it’s own charms and rough edges, but is always a crowd pleaser and a great wine with cuisine, whether it is risotto, pasta or just a deli grab bag this Barbera brings a smile to your face, for years I used to give this wine as gifts, everyone of my friends knew and loved the Rhino wine, and I always try and have some bottles around, La Spinetta really put Barbera on the serious wine stage back in the 90’s and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. While Rivetti’s Barbaresco and Barolo (since 2000) continue to be some of the world’s great wines, his Barbera continues to be one of his best and most fun wines, this and his Moscato D’ Asti really should never be missed. The Ca’ Di Pian 2010 should age another 3 to 5 years easy, but it is pretty darn lovable right now, be sure to give it a chance to feel some air first then just quaff this superb and lovely Barbera, best from 2015 to 2018.
($28 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
