Barbaresco 2017 & Barbaresco Riserva 2015: Full report

Barbaresco 2017

A cool April with hail and frost, followed by a hot and dry summer. Some rain fell in the weeks before the early harvest. A fine vintage for Barbaresco, against the odds.

5/5

‘In this vintage,’ says Gaia Gaja, ‘we had 80 days without rain during the summer.’ Europe is getting used to these scorching summers, but they can be problematic in often marginal areas such as Barbaresco, where the aim had always been to reserve the most favoured slopes for Nebbiolo that needed to be fully ripe. Today, optimal exposure can be a drawback, increasing the risk of sunburnt grapes.

The preceding vintage had been very warm but not excessively hot, so the wines retained freshness and acidity. There were fears that this would not be repeated in 2017 and that the wines would suffer from low acidity. To the surprise of many, this was not the case, and 2017 turned out to be a fine vintage for Barbaresco.

April began warm, but then temperatures tumbled. On 15 April there was hail. As so often, it was localised but Neive was badly hit. The problem for growers was compounded by a late April frost followed by some rain. From May through August it was very hot and dry, and the main problem was sunburn, which could be eliminated at harvest if not before.

Quick link: See all 38 Barbaresco 2017 & Barbaresco 2015 Riserva tasting notes

June temperatures broke records and nights were warm. Some beneficial rain did fall in late August and early September. Dolcetto and Barbera could have extreme ripeness levels, but Nebbiolo was better balanced and of very high quality. Still, it was an early vintage with Barbaresco picked from mid-September into late October. The only drawback was that the crop was rather small and about one-third below average.

So how come the best wines were so splendid when climatic indicators suggest they should have been jammy and flabby? Gaia Gaja gave her point of view: ‘Leaves were very small, which meant there was less sugar creation. And the extreme heat blocked maturation and thus helped the grapes to maintain acidity.

‘Berries and clusters were small this year, and that too concentrated acidity. Frost reduced some yields, as did the very thick skins. We also adapted our winemaking. We eliminated seeds at the first pumpovers to avoid extracting harsh tannins, and also cooled the vats to slow fermentations. The wines may not be as juicy as 2016, but the best have good ageing potential.’

Mixed reception

It has to be said that not all tasters have greeted the 2017 Barbaresco with acclaim, finding many of the wines light, shallow and lacking in structure. That was not my experience, although as in every vintage there are disappointing wines, even from normally reliable estates. One pleasant surprise is that despite the hail in Neive, the commune produced some very good wines. Hail, of course, does not necessarily reduce quality so long as careful selection is made to ensure no damaged or oxidised berries enter the vats.

2015 Riservas

Torrid July but cooler, moister conditions in August and September brought the grapes to ripeness. A small crop of charming wines.

5/5

The high quality of the 2015 vintage encouraged many growers to release Riservas. The summer had been hot but without the heat spikes that might have scorched the berries. Veraison was early, and cool nights in August and some timely rain helped to produce balanced wines from fully ripe grapes. The harvest was early and quite copious, with some forward wines with moderate acidity, but also some more structured wines that would have been singled out for Riservas.

Stephen’s top Barbaresco 2017 & Barbaresco Riserva 2015 wines:

See all 38 wines tasted

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