Cantina del Pino 'Albesani' Barbaresco DOCG, 2019

In Barbaresco, Cantina del Pino is releasing the last vintage in which Renato had a hand. He was already well into his illness, so Franca took the lead and they are some of the best wines the winery has produced to date.

If you've been with us for awhile, you may recall my email of the Fall of 2020...in it I confessed that I was delayed in getting our Barolo Offer out to you all because the evening prior was the first time I had seen my Dad since the shutdown. And, there we sat into the wee hours drinking Barbaresco from magnum outside by the fire after a dinner also outside where we (now-seemingly-oddly) had sat far away from each other. The fire burned and we crushed wine long after Allie went upstairs. The bottle of the night was a '14 Albesani. Even in higher volume vintages Vacca only makes about 250 cases of this for the year. The wine is a treasure. Reserve some. And then, light a fire and stay up too late drinking it...it's a treasure.-JZS

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“With fruit from Neive, the Cantina del Pino 2019 Barbaresco Albesani is soft and silky in texture, offering a very graceful and detail-oriented presentation. There is cherry, sweet fruit, blue flower and almond. This wine reminds me of an old-school Barbaresco that might have been made two decades ago. Sadly, only 3,000 bottles were made. This whole portfolio from Cantina del Pino is terrific, with top- notch expressions of Nebbiolo that are fine and fragile.”
WA Monica Larner 94 Points  Published: Aug 24, 2023

The late Renato and his father Adriano decided to leave the Produttori del Barbaresco nearly three  decades ago, an organization that Adriano co-founded in 1958 with his brother Celestino.  I imagine at the time it was a difficult decision, as the family was instrumental in the creation of the Produttori, just as they were instrumental in the very creation of the appellation now world famous as Barbaresco. The very first bottling named Barbaresco came from their vineyard “Ovello”. But it was a wise move as we can now see, in that they have created one of the greatest estates in the zone or all of Piemonte for that matter. One that has quickly reached levels of critical acclaim that one would expect that could only be achieved over generations. But then again, they have been doing it that long, just under different names.  And now there is a new chapter with Renato’s wife Franca taking over the reins. My first taste of the first wine that she made all on her own, the 2020 Langhe Nebbiolo dispelled any hint of a doubt that the student has surpassed the teacher.

All Barbareschi from CdP undergo extended submerged cap fermentations with indigenous yeast, (unless, as is sometimes the case in warmer years,  it does not start fast enough.) post fermentation macerations that keep the wine and skins together for  at least 30 days and then they are  moved to large (25-30 HL) Botte for two  years plus  in the case of the Classico bottling and longer (30 months) for crus. After 6-12 months in bottle the wines are released.