2018 Nada Fiorenzo, Barbaresco DOCG “Rombone” Piedmonte, Italy.
Tasted at this year’s Slow Wine event in San Francisco, this nuanced and pretty Barbaresco comes from the Rombone Cru and shows the vintage’s charms in purity and delicacy of flavors with subtle florals, earthy elements and a core of Nebbiolo fruit that fills the palate. Danilo Nada’s estate in the Langa Hills is one of most under the radar properties in the Barbaresco zone and I was very impressed with the wines I tasted, especially this Rombone with its chiseled and crisp detailing, lovely texture and exceptional finish, it is a wine to keep an eye out for and I’m confident it has rewarding years and years ahead of it. This 2018 shows loads of dark berry, cherry, damson plum and red currant fruits, hints of leather, tobacco, anise, tar and chanterelle along with fine tannic structure and a vein of natural acidity that gives this young wine a sense of elegant lightness without taking away the impression of depth in this well crafted Nebbiolo.
The Nada Rombone Vineyard, which gives this winery its signature wine, is located in the the commune of Treiso and was planted back in 1964 and this 2018 vintage was made using the oldest sections vines that are set into the calcareous soils, which have a mix of the clay and limestone that brings out fruit density and mineral tones, as this wine clearly shows. The winemaking is traditional and obviously within the DOCG regulations with all of the grapes carefully hand farmed and sorted to produce a beautiful Barbaresco that with shine with simple and robust cuisine as well as age gracefully for at least another decade. This dark garnet and ruby edged Nebbiolo saw a cool primary fermentation using 100% de-stemmed berries and a lengthy gentle maceration with daily cap management before going to oak cask where it finished males and was matured for 24 months. This wine also was given another 6 months rest in bottle before leaving the Nada cellar, but as with most serious Nebbiolo, this wine will enjoy decanting to best show its full potential, especially if you don’t have the patience to cellar it another 3 to 5 years.
($65 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive