PRODUTTORI del BARBARESCO

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BARABRESCO 2007 AROUND A TABLE: Info here...

VINTAGE REPORT

2006 - The 2006 vintage had a good start with nice spring weather; the first part of the month of May was particularly hot, causing an early flowering around May 25th instead of at the very beginning of June as is more usual. Temperatures dropped in June, but without causing any particular delays in flowering or fruit set, therefore creating the conditions for a larger than average crop.

July was again very hot and dry. The first part of August was instead much cooler than expected, but without the heavy rainfall that created problems in other parts of Italy. It was indeed a dry summer and, in fact, the vineyards with the best exposure (warmer and drier) experienced some stress from a temporary lack of water. Summer thinning of the crop was more crucial than usual and particular care was taken to reduce the large crop to a more balanced quantity in the months of July and August.

Overall we arrived at the beginning of September with very healthy grapes and high sugar levels, thanks to the hot and dry summer weather. For the same reasons, the ripening of colour and aromas proceeded at a slower pace. September weather remained warm and summery with the exception of two heavy rainfalls. The first one arrived around September 10th and actually helped the final rush of ripening. The latter hit the area on September 25th and 26th, right before the harvest and had the opposite effect. It did not spoil the quality of the crop in any manner, but it made waiting any further worthless. Therefore we let the grapes dry and started the harvest on September 29th. It lasted 9 days until October 7th and was under favourable climatic condition.

2006 will be a very good vintage for Barbaresco with full bodied wines, intense colour and good acidity: an excellent long living wine that follows the good pattern of the previous vintages of 2004 and 2005.

2005 -The 2005 growing season was an unusual one, but overall quite good. Early summer was hot, with June temperatures rather higher than average. The first part of July was unusually "nice and cool" while in the second half the heat was back and was intense.
Oddly in August, we did not have the "hot and humid" weather that makes the whole country go to the beaches; instead, there was a relatively nice and cool August and drier compared to other regions of Italy. So the grapes arrived at the beginning of September in good condition, carefully thinned during the summer by the growers, and ready for the final rush.
Because of the lack of chilly and brisk mornings, th grape skins did not become thick. So, while the grapes were in good condition, with rather high sugar content and a nice ripening of colour and aromas, the risk of bunch-rot, if rain had come, was high. The decision was therefore made at the last minute to rush and complete the harvest to avoid taking any risks. Harvest started on September 24th, and by September 30th crushing was over. Sure enough it started raining on October 2nd and rained for a week! At that point though, the must was already fermenting nicely, safe in the cellar; and we could look with great expectation to another excellent vintage for Barbaresco.

2004 - The 2004 season was a "smooth" one for the grapes of the Barbaresco district, neither too hot nor too cold, with average spring rainfall and a relatively dry summer. After the awkward 2002 and 2003 vintages (that is, the 2002 season very wet and the 2003 very hot and dry) 2004 was "uneventful" and easy, with nice, flowering and fruit-set,resulting in a larger than average crop. The growers were therefore very careful all through the summer to severely thin the crop in order to have a balanced production in the vineyards at the beginning of September.
The once again beautiful September weather, warm days and cool nights, allowed a nice ripening of colour and aromatic compounds, as well as a good sugar accumulation. Harvest started late for the Produttori del Barbaresco on October 8th with healthy grapes and very good numbers: the high level of sugar, colour and phenolic compounds were a good indication of excellent quality. Rain came after October 20th, when 80% of the crop was already in. Nevertheless even the grapes picked after the rain showed good numbers, a proof of the healthy character of the crop itself.
The 2004 vintage turned out to be a very good one and is now considered a "classic" vintage, like most late harvesting. It shows intense flavours and rich and extremely-focused fruit that lingers on the palate with a very long finish. The tannins are powerful yet delicate, showing very good balance. It is a vintage to be remembered, which produced wines capable of very long ageing.

2003 - How will the 2003 Barbaresco be? First of all, we can say that ten years ago we would have described such a vintage as "one of a kind." Today it is the last of a sequence that started in 1997 and continued with the year 2000. What all these vintages have in common is a very hot summer, which means early picking. In 2003 the harvest in the Barbaresco district for the Nebbiolo grapes started on September 22nd and ended on September 28th: one of those rare vintages when we do not pick in October at all!
"Hot vintages" normally produce wines with high alcohol content (above 14% by vol.), powerful and ripe fruit with aromas of black cherry and spices. Tannins are relatively soft and the low acidity enhances this softness even more. 2003 is no exception.

On the other hand, hot vintages are not particularly generous with colour or complexity: There is plenty of fruit, but in order to develop the layers of flavours and the intensity of colour, long sunny autumn days with cold nights are needed. At the end of the first winter we can say that the 2003 Barbaresco shows a brilliant colour and a nice, fragrant and open fruit, although not too complex.
So what we have here is an excellent vintage, not a classic "tannin monster," but a rich, voluptuous Barbaresco, quite drinkable in its youth and capable of 12 - 15 years of ageing in the bottle.

2002 - The 2002 vintage is defined by four major events, two negative and two positive. The two bad ones were a very wet summer and a severe hailstorm at the beginning of September in part of the Barolo region.
The yearly rainfall in 2002 was of 1900 mm.(75 inches) compared to an average yearly rainfall of 700 mm. (27.6 inches)! The hail hit some of the best Barolo vineyards on September 4th, definitively compromising an already difficult vintage. However, two thirds of the Barolo area and none of the Barbaresco Region was hit by the hail at all.
The first of the two positive facts was a spectacular break in the rainy season from September 7th to October 14th: Five weeks of warm, dry days, chilly nights and bright skies greatly assisted the nebbiolo, a late harvest grape, to make up for the bad summer, whereas grapes picked earlier just could not make it.

The second fact was the dramatic reduction in the size of the crop, down 35% from the average quantity because of the difficult weather pattern and thanks to the severe crop thinning by most growers throughout the summer months.
Thanks to these last two facts, the nebbiolo was picked by mid-October in very good condition and with good figures. It will not be one of the "vintages of the century," but the 2002 Barbaresco will be very good, definitely better than what anybody could have hoped for at the end of August!

2001 - Another great vintage for Barbaresco? Certainly a very good one!
Winter: not much snowfall, but more rain than the few previous years. The good water supply and a warmer than usual end of March helped and early start for bud-break of the nebbiolo grapes, one that was very even all along the vine-cane.
Spring: the most dramatic weather event was a short but intense hailstorm on April 16th, centered in San Rocco Seno d'Elvio and the bordering areas of the village of Treiso. A hailstorm so early in the season normally will not affect the quality of the crop since it just reduces the amount of shoots and therefore the grapes. Perfect May weather helped a strong growth of the canopy, even in the vineyards damaged by the hail. Such favorable weather allowed flowering to occur during the last week of May, one week earlier than usual.
Summer: June and July were not as hot as normally expected; the real hot and humid weather did not occur until the second half of August (when it usually starts to cool off) and lasted until mid-September. These weather conditions, together with the good water supply from the winter months, slowed down the aromatic evolution, thereby increasing the berry size.
Fall: Harvest began on October 2nd, a week earlier than we expected: the right balance among sugar, acidity, aromas and colour arrived sooner and the feeling was that waiting any longer would have been fruitless. Dry and sunny conditions remained steady throughout the harvest.
Even though the grapes looked healthy and with good sugar and phenolic contents at harvest time, final judgment on the vintage was postponed by a few months to better evaluate the final result. There was some concern about the actual concentration of fruit in the grapes, but we can now say that the 2001 wines show beautiful aromas and flavour, in the same league with the previous great vintages of Barbaresco.

2000 - A very good start for the new millennium, a sixth consecutive good vintage for Barbaresco!
It was an unusual year weather wise: a quite mild winter with very little snowfall led to an early start of the growing season at the end of March. A very warm and rainy spring, made vineyard spraying against leaf diseases, particularly downy mildew, difficult and crucial. Then July was unseasonably cold -- the coolest of the last 100 years -- and totally dry. Hot weather arrived late, in the second half of August and remained well into September and featured high day and night temperatures.
This rather late summer caused some problems to the early ripening grapes, because of excessive heat in the final stages of maturation, but it was generally beneficial to the later varieties, particularly Nebbiolo, which is more resistant to weather variations and can take advantage of the October sunshine.
Despite anticipation of the harvest for other grapes or in other regions, in Barbaresco it was determined that delaying the harvest until September 29th would be beneficial even though the sugar levels were already quite high a week earlier.
The extra time allowed a better concentration of aromas and phenols. Harvest was over by October 12th, a few days before a period of very heavy rains that did not affect the vintage at all. Overall, the wines are showing high alcohol levels, good colors, and fine complex aromas, in the same league with the previous ones: the sequence of great vintages seems never ending!

1999: Overall another very good vintage for Barbaresco.
The early part of the season was nice and favoured a perfect flowering at the beginning of June with dry, warm and bright days.
Unfortunately, on June 14th a bad rainstorm hit the region: for just a few minutes the hills were splashed with heavy rain, which in some areas started out as hail. Hailstorms here are normally very brief and localized: this time it hit the southwest part of the village of Barbaresco and was more "wet" (mixed with water) in the northern part.
Other villages in the DOCG area were not effected. The loss of crop varied from 20% to 80% depending on the hillside.
When hailstorms arrive so early in the season the actual damage is never as bad as it may appear: clusters are still undeveloped and green; the affected berries dry out and fall; and after a couple of weeks growth re-starts normally. The major effect is a reduction in the size of the crop, which, as we know, is not bad at all.
The one crucial condition for a good recovery from a hail storm is good summer weather, which is what happened in 1999. Despite some days of high humidity, most of the summer was rainless and September remained very dry. Harvest at the Produttori started on October 1st, and the weather remained ideal all through the month.
The last crop of the century brought us Nebbiolo grapes of excellent quality, producing intensely coloured and balanced wines in the same league with the splendid previous vintages.

1998 A fantastic "four in a row!" Another great vintage on the hills of the Barbaresco district after the beautiful 1995 and the extraordinary 1996 and 1997. Never in the past have we had such an array of excellence!
The 1998 growing season was very similar to the one in 1997, with a hot summer and a rather dry fall. resulting in a perfectly healthy, ripe crop. The average sugar level was a bit lower than the super-ripe 1997, and the good acidity will give very balanced wines.
After only a few months the new wines are showing beautiful colours, ripe tannins, intense flavours: the perfect start for a new great vintage.

1997: Although the grapes are barely off the vines, this vintage is already being talked about as one of the greatest vintages of the century.
A very mild and dry late winter caused bud-break to arrive 15 days early. The season continued in the same pattern, culminating in a very early harvest (starting on September 20 in Barbaresco and finishing on October 3rd).
The result was a very healthy, super-ripe crop that will offer wines in the same league with the 1990s.

1996: A very similar weather pattern to the 1995 vintage. A cooler than usual August was followed by 20 gorgeous days in September with brisk temperatures at night and very hot sunny days: a perfect situation for a small crop to ripen properly and develop thick skins, with great concentration of flavours. Some rain at the end of September did not spoil the quality of this beautiful vintage.
Thanks to the cool summer temperatures and the late ripening (harvest started on October 7 and ended on the 23rd), the wines are full bodied and show great colour, great fruit and smooth tannins. All of the good qualities of the 1995 vintage are reflected in this Barbaresco, but with more concentration.

1995: A cooler than usual summer, but a beautiful end of September and October gave a good final push to the ripening of a crop that was 30% lower than average in quantity.
Good colour and very nice fruit and soft tannins make the 1995 Barbaresco intense, rich, fairly approachable and quite similar to the quality of the 1988 vintage.

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