2016 Barbaresco, Muncagotta, Riserva, Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota continues this tasting of frankly awe-inspiring wines. Rich, deep and super-expressive, the 2016 hits all the right notes. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, licorice emerge, but only with great reluctance. The Muncagota is another wine in this range that clearly needs time.
The 2016 Riservas are without question the finest wines I have ever tasted from the Produttori del Barbaresco. That is evident from the very beginning of this tasting. Wines like the Pora, Rio Sordo and Muncagota that are typically open-knit and accessible, in relative terms, are brooding powerhouses. From there, the Riservas only get richer, deeper and more structured. I am too young to have tasted the 1978s as young wines, but the darkness and power of the 2016s reminds me of those Barbarescos, with the finesse and nuance of today, naturally.
Harvest began in early October, which is on the later side by current standards. The Riservas saw five weeks on the skins, with submerged cap fermentation and then malolactic fermentation in steel, where the wines spent a number of months before being racked into 25 and 50HL casks in May 2017. No one who loves Piedmont wines will want to be without these mind-blowing, majestic Riservas. Prices remain exceedingly fair, making these some of the most reasonably priced, age-worthy wines anywhere in the world. Because of the very high quality of the year, the Produttori bottled about 20% more volume of the Riservas.
While waiting for those wines to come around, readers will want to have the 2017 Barbaresco in the cellar. It’s a very pretty wine from a year with more challenges. It will be interesting next year to see how the Riservas fared. Congratulations to Managing Director Aldo Vacca and his team for this breathtaking set of wines. The 2016 Riservas will go down as an epochal achievement for the Produttori del Barbaresco.
Drink 2024 - 2041
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (October 2020)
The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota stands out in this group of nine for the slightly more mineral-driven definition on the bouquet and the bigger textural impact and structure of the mouthfeel. There is plenty of wild fruit and cherry, but the wine's aromas also veer toward crushed stone, iron ore, spice and candied orange peel. Thanks to integrated tannins, freshness, and an elegant dose of fruit or phenolic weight, you feel the impact on the palate. Fruit for this wine is sourced from vineyards owned by the Bellora, Lignana and Viglino families. Production for Muncagota in this vintage is 11,157 bottles.
Drink 2025 - 2055
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (June 2021)
About this WINE
Produttori del Barbaresco
Produttori del Barbaresco is located in the Barbaresco region of Piedmont, Italy. It is a cooperative winery established in 1958 by a group of 19 growers who recognised the potential of the Barbaresco region and decided to join forces. It has grown to include over 50 members who collectively cultivate approximately 100 hectares of vineyards.
The cooperative owns vineyards in different cru sites, including Asili, Montefico, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajè, Pora, Rabajà, Rio Sordo, and Muncagota. These vineyards are known for their distinct terroirs and contribute to the complexity and character of the wines.
The primary grape variety used by Produttori del Barbaresco is Nebbiolo, indigenous to the Piedmont region. Nebbiolo produces wines with intense aromatics, high acidity, and firm tannins. The cooperative also has a small amount of Barbera and Dolcetto wines.
Produttori del Barbaresco focuses on traditional winemaking practices to preserve the authenticity and character of the Nebbiolo grape. The wines are fermented in large oak casks and undergo extended maceration to extract colour, flavour, and tannins. Ageing takes place in large Slavonian oak barrels for an extended period, allowing the wines to develop complexity and refinement.
Barbaresco
The Piedmontese DOCG zone of Barbaresco is responsible for producing some of Italy’s finest wines. It occupies the same region and uses the same grape (Nebbiolo) as its bigger brother Barolo, but is a third of the size (only 640 hectares versus Barolo’s 1,700 hectares). It is also 50 years younger than Barolo, having produced wine labelled Barbaresco since 1890.
Barbaresco earned its DOCG after Barolo in 1980, largely thanks to the efforts of Angelo Gaja. The soils are lighter here than in Barolo – both in colour and weight – and more calcareous. The slopes are also less favourably situated and (relatively speaking) yield earlier-maturing yet extremely elegant wines that require less oak ageing (normally one year in oak plus six months in bottle). The appellation’s key districts are Barbaresco, Treiso, Neive and Alba.
Recommended producers: Cigliuti, Gaja, Marchesi di Gresy
Nebbiolo
Nebbiolo is the grape behind the Barolo and Barbaresco wines and is hardly ever seen outside the confines of Piedmont. It takes its name from "nebbia" which is Italian for fog, a frequent phenomenon in the region.
A notoriously pernickety grape, it requires sheltered south-facing sites and performs best on the well-drained calcareous marls to the north and south of Alba in the DOCG zones of Barbaresco and Barolo.
Langhe Nebbiolo is effectively the ‘second wine’ of Piedmont’s great Barolo & Barbarescos. This DOC is the only way Langhe producers can declassify their Barolo or Barbaresco fruit or wines to make an early-drinking style. Unlike Nebbiolo d’Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo can be cut with 15% other red indigenous varieties, such as Barbera or Dolcetto.
Nebbiolo flowers early and ripens late, so a long hang time, producing high levels of sugar, acidity and tannins; the challenge being to harvest the fruit with these three elements ripe and in balance. The best Barolos and Barbarescos are perfumed with aromas of tar, rose, mint, chocolate, liquorice and truffles. They age brilliantly and the very best need ten years to show at their best.
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Description
The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota stands out in this group of nine for the slightly more mineral-driven definition on the bouquet and the bigger textural impact and structure of the mouthfeel. There is plenty of wild fruit and cherry, but the wine's aromas also veer toward crushed stone, iron ore, spice and candied orange peel. Thanks to integrated tannins, freshness, and an elegant dose of fruit or phenolic weight, you feel the impact on the palate. Fruit for this wine is sourced from vineyards owned by the Bellora, Lignana and Viglino families. Production for Muncagota in this vintage is 11,157 bottles.
Drink 2025 - 2055
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (June 2021)
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