Barbaresco Albesani

Wines

A single hectare on the Santo Stefano hill in Neive — that’s the whole of Albesani. The site catches more light than anywhere else in the Vacca family’s holdings, and the soil runs to red clay over calcareous limestone shot through with white sandy veins. Less sand than Ovello, more clay, more sun. The wine tells you all of that before you’ve finished the first glass.

The vines average forty years, with some pushing seventy. Fruit comes in at the start of October and spends thirty days on the skins, then two years in oak and eighteen months in bottle before release. Nothing is filtered on its way out.

Appellation: Barbaresco DOCG, Albesani Cru

Type: Red, dry

Varietal: 100% Nebbiolo

Wine Details:

Tasting Notes:

Color: Ruby red.

Bouquet: Ripe berry, game, leather and anise.

Palate: Intense and enveloping; dark red fruit, violets, dried flowers and spice; substantial tannins carried by fruit weight, gaining power with age

Serving suggestion: 16°-18° C (60-65° F).

Pairing: Pairs well with beef, pork, chicken, pheasant, roast goose, stuffed pasta in the piemontese-style, mushroom or truffle dishes and aged cheeses. Great with risotto.

Vinyard Notes:

Vineyard: The Albesani sits on the Santo Stefano hill. It has a specific microclimate that causes more light on its grapes with more clay in the soil. This brings out a much stronger flavor than the Ovello vineyard. It has a little less sand than the Ovello.

Elevation: About 300 meters (1,000 feet) a.s.l.

Exposure: Southern.

Soil: Calcareous limestone, with white sandy veins and some red clay.

Area: 1 hectare/2.45 acres.

Viticulture: 35 to 70 years old.

Winemaking Notes:

Vinification: Vinified at 26°C/78°F for 30 days on the skins during maceration..

Stabilization: Natural with no filtering of the wines.

Aging: Two years in Oak; 18 months in bottle before release.

Cellaring: Properly preserved at a steady temperature of 14°-15°C, laid down, in the dark, this wine can keep its characteristics for 20-30 years.