Vinous (93)

The 2016 Barbera d'Alba is fabulous. Rich in its first impression, but sustained by terrific energy, the 2016 is all finesse. Rose petal, lavender, mint and dark red and purplish fruit develop in the glass, but more than anything else, the 2016 is a super-classic, mid-weight Barbera that will thrill readers who enjoy traditionally made wines.

Vinous (90)

Brovia's 2016 Barbera d'Alba Sorì del Drago is dark and brooding in the glass. Black cherry, smoke, crushed rocks, cloves, licorice and melted road tar confer density and virile power. Dark and massively concentrated, the 2016 will drink well for at least a handful of years. I would prefer to give the 2016 a bit more time in bottle to allow it to shed some of its considerable baby fat.

Wine Advocate (93)

The Barbera grape can often act like Nebbiolo showing its best results in the later vintages that end on a cool note. Those conditions are what define the beautiful 2016 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina. The wine sees 20 days of maceration with submerged cap, and the bouquet is flowing, polished and impactful as a result. Blackberry, summer cherry and plum rise from the glass. Some 18 months of oak aging adds delicate touches of spice, leather and cedar.

Wine Advocate (93)

The Barbera grape can often act like Nebbiolo showing its best results in the later vintages that end on a cool note. Those conditions are what define the beautiful 2016 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina. The wine sees 20 days of maceration with submerged cap, and the bouquet is flowing, polished and impactful as a result. Blackberry, summer cherry and plum rise from the glass. Some 18 months of oak aging adds delicate touches of spice, leather and cedar.

Vinous (89)

The 2019 Barbera d'Alba is a fabulous every-day wine. Floral aromatics and red berry fruit grace this airy yet flavorful Barbera from Fratelli Alessandria. The 2019 is not a powerhouse, but it is supremely delicious and very easy to like.

Vinous (94)

The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Cerretta is so elegant and refined in this vintage. The 2018 is lithe and precise, with lovely red berry, floral and blood orange flavors that are woven together into a fabric of total class. The long, silky finish is a thing of beauty. With a bit of time, the Cerretta starts to show its trademark pliancy. I would give it a few years in bottle.

Vinous (94)

Conterno's 2010 Barbera d'Alba Cascina Francia boasts striking minerality, purity and depth. Graphite, plums, smoke, minerals and crushed rocks grace the palate in a wine endowed with stunning depth and intensity. Sweet floral and geranium notes that are such a signature of the Cascina Francia Barbera round out the impeccable finish.

Vinous (94)

The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia is an explosion of floral, savory and mineral notes. Like the Cerretta, the Francia Barbera is quite delicate in this vintage. It has a bit darker fruit, stronger savory undertones and a touch more depth. It is a beguiling, beautifully layered wine that unfolds graciously over time.

The first output from future Piemonte superstars Lara Rocchetti & Luisa Sala - the LaLu Barbera d’Alba 2019 - is one of the most interesting wines of the vintage and easily a wine worth seeking out, whether you usually drink Piemonte or steer towards other regions for your daily drinking wines. Priced extremely well for a quality Barbera, there is added glamour to this wine in that it comes from one of the great terroirs of Piemonte, grown entirely in the Monforte section of the Bussia cru.

Courtesy of that sublime terroir, this is a wine that boasts clear Monforte signatures of explosive violet, tart blackberry and sloe with a deep purplish hue, such that it walks a remarkably fine line appealing to a new world palate while staying true to one of Barolo’s great terroirs. It is rich in colour and personality, yet so fresh, lithe and weightless. As Barbera goes this is just about perfect, a new benchmark for the variety showing what can happen when a wine with good pedigree is lovingly honed to perfection.

Only 2,000 bottles made.

Wine Advocate (98)

The single-vineyard Sorte O Soro had not been produced since 2016, and the 2019 Sorte O Soro is the next vintage after that. This plot has always shown additional elegance, freshness and salinity since he started vinifying it in 2004, because of the altitude (710 meters above sea level) and the north exposure to the Bibei Valley, where the old clone is planted on fine granite sand and quartz soils. Like As Sortes, this Sorte also fermented and matured with lees in new 500-liter French oak barrels for eight months. It has 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.12 and higher acidity (at 7.5 grams) than the rest of the 2019s. It feels very harmonious, elegant and nuanced with some creaminess, with notes of wet pollen and yellow flowers. The palate reflects the soil, with vibrant granite and very fine sand and electric quartz (saline), and it's also round and powerful from the clone that is planted in the vineyard. This vineyard is in the process of being organically and biodynamically certified. 2,240 bottles were filled in September 2020. I tasted the 2019s and 2020s from Rafa Palacios in Valdeorras. For him, these are two very good years. 2019 had a mild and dry winter and a rainy and cold spring that delayed budding, followed by a mild summer with fewer hours of sunshine, which meant a delay in the ripening process. Harvest was more than one month later than usual, and the grapes achieved very slow ripening and full development of aromas and flavors while keeping the acidity. The harvest started in October and finished in November. It's a beautiful, homogeneous vintage with very good wines. 2020 saw a moderately cool and rainy winter and a dry and cold spring that resulted in 20% less bunches than in 2019. The summer was also quite dry but, fortunately, not too hot. Given the low yields, maturation was accelerated, and the harvest began at the beginning of September for Louro and from September 25th for As Sortes. Given the scarce water, the plants had to work harder deep down into the soil, which marked the wines; the silica and quartz from the sandy soils of O Bolo shaped a saline identity and the wines achieved a lot of elegance and balance. It's a more heterogeneous vintage, and the higher-altitude vineyards behaved better. The 2020 O Soro is out of this world. He gave me a quick preview of the very cold 2021, a vin de garde vintage but a challenging year with a lot of rain. They are in the process of certifying their vineyards (organic and biodynamic), but they have some problems in the vineyards with neighbors who are not organic, so it will probably be faster for O Soro and Sorte Antiga.

Decanter (98)

Sampled from a vat, this is one of the best As Sortes I have ever tasted, comparable to the iconic 2011. It's a prodigy of subtleness and elegance. Everything is firmly delicate in this wine. Restrained aromas open up parsimoniously, with a steely structure like a great Burgundy, but with flinty acidity almost like Grosses Gewächs from Rheingau. Despite the fact that the sample was not yet bottled, the wine had no oak influence, just the indication that it had been aged, as top Godello must. Rafael Palacios is refining his work year after year, reaching the magic of the greatest wines. A top wine, and one to keep.

James Suckling (96)

This is a spectacular magnum with plums, blackberries, blueberries and dark chocolate. A hint of toasted oak. Graphite undertones. Full-bodied, rich and layered with great density and intensity. Orange peel and spice. Old-vine magic. Greatness. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2015 O Diviso felt closed, more reticent, and seems more powerful, despite the fact they did a nonextractive vinification; they did nothing and let the wine ferment at its own pace. This matured in one 600-liter oak barrel, and this is the only red that has a slight note from the oak. There is also a relevant amount of Garnacha Tintorera, so the combination of a warm year, the small barrel and the varietal mix resulted in a more austere and backward wine that is going to require more time in bottle. The fruit is darker and the wine is more powerful than the 2014. It might evolve with time in bottle, because it certainly has the stuffing to do so, but today As Caborcas was singing, and I have to give it the edge. 895 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2016.