2017 Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco, Montestefano Riserva

The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is darkly concentrated and among the richest wines in this series of single-vineyard Riservas. Montestefano is angular, textured and bold with dark fruit aromas, dried blackberry, toasted almond and cured tobacco. With this vintage, you get an age-worthy wine that offers brawn and power for drinking in the medium term, but it will become increasingly silky and slender with time. Dusty tannins and crushed stone appear on the long finish. There were 14,486 bottles produced.

The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is a potent, savory wine. Today, the fruit is very much in the background. A brooding, backward Barbaresco, the Montestefano clearly needs time, it is a somber, imposing Barbaresco. Dark plum, earthiness, cloves, menthol and licorice infuse the finish with notable gravitas. There's plenty of Montestefano breadth and resonance.