2024 Guido Porro, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Vigna Santa Caterina, Piemonte, Italy.
A very under the radar producer, Guido Porro quietly does some fantastic Barolo, Barbera, as seen here, Langhe Nebbiolo and Dolcetto from some fabulous vineyard parcels around Serralunga d’Alba, making some exceptional values, with this dark fruited and brightly fresh 2024 Barbera d’Alba Vigna S. Caterina being a wonderful expression of grape and place. This 2024 vintage shows off a deep purple/garnet hue in the glass, with a heady red berry, spicy and floral nose leading the way to a zesty/juicy medium bodied palate of crushed blackberry, Bing cherry, wild plum and cranberry fruits, all backed up with chalky stones, briar notes, sweet and tarry licorice and snappy herbs with adore of silky tannin and vivid acidity. I am very fond of Dolcetto and Barbera, especially quality examples like this one from Porro, a fourth generation estate that was originally founded in 1900. In recent years Porro changed the label to a much more attractive retro design, based on Guido’s grandfathers original, and that cosmetic update has given this winery more gravitas on the wine store shelves and gives a sense of the true quality and style in the bottle, much more than the previous one.
The Porro Barbera d’Alba is sourced from a highly prized Barolo vineyard with mature 25 to 30 year old vines, set on classic Barolo marl, limestone and clay soils, which helps this easy to love, no pretense wine an extra degree of pedigree and complexity. For this wine the winery does a 100% de-stemming of the grapes and a cool tank fermentation, after which the wine sees about 6 months in large Botti and then an extra 6 months in stainless steel tank before bottling. While ready to go right now and highly enjoyable, especially with simple pasta and meat dishes, these Barbera’s by Porro do age well, in my own experience, I’ve liked them with 5 to 7 years, but Anthony Lynch of Kermit Lynch says the 2003, a wildly hot vintage, is still drinking well even now. Kermit Lynch now has a top notch collection of Piemonte wineries these days, they have really upped their game here, adding new stars like Giulia Negri and Camillo Favaro, which are outstanding and highly coveted producers. I got to also try Porro’s Barolo from the parcel in the famed Lazzarito (Grand) Cru, which was awesome and it should be noted that they also have a plot in the fabled Vigna Rionda, which is maybe the most sought after wine in the lineup. These wines are well worth searching out and I recommend stocking up on this Barbera to drink over the next 3 or so years, while I might suggest also grabbing a few Barolo to age in the cellar.
($28) 92 Points, grapelive