Pre-Phylloxera Barbera d’Alba DOC — 2020
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Introduction
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Coming from a not grafted vineyard located in the western part of the municipality of La Morra, the 2020 Barbera d’Aba Pre-Phylloxera shows a great olfactory complexity, emitting fruity notes of blackberry and cherry, perfectly balanced by aromas of violet, spices and balsamic scents. The taste is taut, enveloping and satisfying, characterized by fine and delicate tannins, excellent freshness, and a long finish. It is a bright and slender Barbera that knows how to express itself with grace and great elegance.
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Vineyard Profile
- Vineyards: 100% estate vineyards in Località Berri, in the village of La Morra
- Cultivation: Vertical trellising, Guyot pruning, 100% organic (not yet certified)
- Size: 0.25 hectare (0.62 acre)
- Vine Age: 120+ years old
- Soil: Very rich in sand, which is a natural protection from Phylloxera attacks
- Elevation: 520 meters (1,706 feet) above sea level
- Exposure: Southern
- Density: 4,500 vines/hectare (1,821 vines/acre)
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Vintage Report
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The vintage 2020 started during a quite dry Spring with mild temperatures, which have created the expectations for an early start of the growing season. This trend has fortunately been interrupted between end of April and beginning of May, period characterized by abundant rain shower and cooler temperatures. Thanks to these factors, the situation in the vineyard has been rebalanced, even if it required lots of care for the vines: shoot thinning were more frequent for Barbera and Dolcetto comparing to Nebbiolo, which instead needed a gentler touch. Summer donated us mild temperatures, sunny days, and scattered rainfalls, but above all considerable temperature range. Thanks to the favorable climatic conditions, the 2020 wines strike you with incredible complexity and depth of the sip. Therefore, the 2020 harvest leaves us satisfied: beautiful grapes, good and healthy, have borne wines with intense perfumes and bright colors, nice alcoholic profiles kept up by acidity and freshness, but especially great complexity. All wines offer very perfumed bouquet with clear fruits and flower notes, as well as an incredible freshness and finesse.
- Harvest Date(s): Beginning of October
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Vinification
- Fermentation: 100% in stainless-steel fermentors, temperature controlled, automatic pump-overs; 100% with indigenous yeast
- Malolactic: 100% in steel fermenters
- Aging: 1 year barrel-aging in used, 25-hl (660-gallon) Slavonian oak; bottle-aged for 6 months. Bottled without filtration
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Technical Information
- Varietal Composition: 100% Barbera
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- TA: 6.01 g/L
- RS: 0.41 g/L
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Tasting Notes
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The grapes used for producing the Barbera d’Alba Pre-Phylloxera come from a century-old ungrafted vineyard, located in Berri, a hamlet of La Morra. This wine is a unique expression of Barbera grapes: the 2019 vintage thrills thanks to an elegant aromatic profile, given by wild berries, plum and spices aromas which are complicated by balsamic hints. Rich and refined on the palate with lively acidity, it greatly differs from other Barbera wines because of the presence of fine and velvet tannins which help to give structure and flavor complexity to the wine.
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