About this WINE
Punset, Piedmont
Marina Marcarino of Punset produces an authentic and fine Barbaresco style of wine. Destined to be an engineer by a family in the construction business, Marina rebelled and headed to the vineyards on their 17ha estate overlooking Neive; following in their footsteps of her grandmother, also a ‘contadina’. Trained in viticulture, she turned the property organic in 1982, certified in 1993.
All the vineyards are grassed over, with the fruit being vinified traditionally in both cement and stainless steel, before being aged in a combination of used French tonneaux and slavonian botte grande.
Punset has three Barbaresco vineyards: Basarin, San Cristoforo, and San Cristoforo ‘Campo Quadro’.
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
Such was the quality of Marina’s Basarin 2012 that, exceptionally, she’s awarded it the “Riserva” tag. She points to the damp and cold weather during flowering which naturally reduced the crop, turning flowers into fruitless shoots. And, as Nebbiolo flowers only once, the result was significant. As with vintage 2014 Barbaresco suffered less rain than in Barolo. The nose is particularly fine, with clear-cut rose, raspberry essence, quinine and a tight, red-berry, violet and gentian perfume. It’s notably sapido (mineral) too, tightly coiled and brimming with cranberry-fruit and energy. There’s a sense of more focus, perhaps helped by 25 percent new-oak, large botte in the élevage. Brava Marina.
Destined to be an engineer thanks to a family construction business, Marina rebelled and headed to the vineyards on the family’s 17-hectare estate overlooking Neive, following in the footsteps of her grandmother. Trained in viticulture, she turned the property organic in 1982 (certified in 1993). All the vineyards are grassed over, with the fruit being vinified traditionally in both cement and stainless steel, before being aged in a combination of used French tonneaux and Slavonian botti. She has three Barbaresco vineyards: Basarin, San Cristoforo and San Cristoforo Campo Quadro.
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