Produttori del Barbaresco
Montestefano Riserva
Barbaresco
2014

The producer

It is very rare for a co-operative winery to be amongst the best producers of their area, but Produttori di Barbaresco has been a leading light for quality wines in Barbaresco since its re-formation in 1958 (originally formed in 1894).

Approximately half the production is generic Barbaresco while good vintages result in all nine single vineyards producing a Riserva. The nine Riserva single vineyards offer a lesson in Barbaresco terroirs with its vastly varying aspects, altitudes, and soils – from fragrance and elegance, to fruitiness, earthiness, structure and power, it’s all here. And the value for money is quite outstanding, arguably the best in Langhe.

The wine

Grapes for the Riserva ‘Montestefano’ bottling are derived from Produttori del Barbaresco’s 4.5-hectare plot in the eponymous vineyard. The vineyard is south, southeast facing and has calcareous limestone soil. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and is followed by 36 months in large oak barrels and another 12 months in bottle. A wine of black cherry and bramble opulence, dense texture, tightly knit structure, full body and long length.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.