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PRODUTTORI del BARBARESCONewsBARABRESCO 2007 AROUND A TABLE: Info here...VINTAGE REPORT2010 - The 2010 season started late. A foot of snow on March 15th in Barbaresco marked the end of a long, cold winter. Because of that, bud breaking for the Nebbiolo grapes did not really happen until April 6th, one week later than the usual timing.First part of the season was characterized by "up and down" weather conditions. Spring was relatively wet and cold, at least cooler than average, and by the end of June the real summer heat arrived, with day temperatures at 34°C (about 92°F) and high humidity. The heat stayed for the month of July while the beginning of August brought drier conditions during the day and cooler morning temperatures, 17°C (62°F) at 7am. Extremely unusual "autumn like" weather hit Barbaresco on August 14th and 15th with lots of rain, fog and cold temperatures, followed by a very hot, humid week. This pattern created the ideal conditions for developing botrytis on the grapes, a serious danger on early ripening grapes, less of a problem at this stage of the season, for the late picking Nebbiolo, but certainly not ideal. Fortunately climate changed once again and already by the end of August cool nights (12°C or 53°F at 8am) and bright warm, dry days (24°C or 70°F at 3pm) prevented the development of any rot. This "perfect weather" lasted all September, but it was interrupted by 3 days of heavy rain on the 7th, 19th and 27th of the month. Lots of warm, bright, sunny days in between the rain which helped a good sugar accumulation in the grapes as well as good evolution of colour and flavours. The night and day temperature difference also prevented any rot problem and guaranteed perfect clusters sanity. After the rain of the 27th of September we decided it was not worthwhile to wait any longer. Produttori del Barbaresco started the harvest on September 30th with a slow pace, young vineyards first while cooler areas, where further ripening was possible, waited longer. A rainy day on October 4th was followed by nice sunshine once again allowing our growers to start picking again by the 7th of the month and eventually finishing the harvest on October 14th. At the end vintage 2010 produced very healthy Nebbiolo grapes slightly less ripe and rich than previous three vintages, but definitely on the good side. 2010 Barbaresco will be a very good wine, with medium body and beautiful balance, somehow similar to the classic 2004 and 2005 vintages . 2009 - 2008-2009 was another record breaking winter in Piemonte with impressive snowfalls, up to 2 meters total on the hills of Barbaresco with the first snow coming end of November and the last one melting away late in March.. Bud break started end of March, as usual, and the all month of April was cold and very wet. A change of pattern finally came at the end of the month, May and June were warm and very dry, perfect conditions for a nice and smooth flowering and fruit set, although crop seemed relatively small, probably because of the spring cold weather. Summer weather was quite steady with temperatures in the 90s °F (35°C) during the day and in the high 60s °F (25°C) at night and, beside just few days at the beginning of September, the heat stayed with us well into September. Relatively high temperatures at night caused a generally low acidity level in the grapes matched by high sugar levels already by mid September. It seemed like Nebbiolo grapes were ready for harvest quite early and two days of rain on September 20th and 21st pushed the decision to start picking before new rain may occur. Harvest started on September 24th and it was over by October 7th under dry and hot conditions. Another good vintage after all, picked in warm weather with quite high sugar levels, extremely healthy grapes and good aromatic evolution. 2008 - A classic winter, three snowstorms, and lots of snow up on the nearby Alps, followed by a rainy spring with April temperatures way below average, a warm May and a pretty cold and wet first half of June. The beginning of summer brought much warmer, although wet, weather which remained all through July. Average summer temperatures in August and September but very dry, a bad sign for truffle season, but a very good one for the "vendemmia" (harvest). The Nebbiolo harvest started at the Produttori on October 4th, later than recent vintages, but in line with classic years such as 2004, 1999, and so on. The climate was ideal and the harvest lasted for a full two weeks. The sugar level in the Nebbiolo grapes is not as high as the previous vintage in 2007, but the tannins are powerful and complex, the fruit intense, and the acidity not shy… a great vintage for Nebbiolo lovers! 2007 - The 2007 vintage marked a new record for an early harvest in Barbaresco, but not because of the hot summer which was in fact nice and relatively cool. The early start of the picking was due to the very mild winter, with temperatures constantly above average and no snow or rain at all. Therefore, the growing season started a full two weeks earlier than usual around mid-March and remained early throughout the year. The brief hailstorm that hit Barbaresco on August 3rd caused a 10-20% crop reduction. It did not however diminish the quality of the vintage thanks to the beautiful weather and rather low humidity that continued throughout the rest of the summer. In the end, despite an early harvest, it turned out to be a long season with good evolution of colour, tannins and aromas. Harvest started at the Produttori del Barbaresco on September 16th and went on for a full two weeks under good weather conditions with no rush needed at all. The grapes were in good condition, with relatively thick skins and thick juice. The quantity was down around 25%, always a good sign for quality. At the first raking, the new wine showed good colour, intense aromas and powerful tannins. Even at that early stage, the finish was long and rich. A vintage very similar to the great 2001: balance, powerful and ripe - an almost "perfect vintage". 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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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.
2001 - Another great vintage for Barbaresco? Certainly a very good one!
2000 - A very good start for the new millennium, a sixth consecutive good vintage for Barbaresco!
1999: Overall another very good vintage for Barbaresco.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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