The Chicago Science Club does 2007 Produttori

The food and staff at Osteria Langhe couldn't be better. 'nuff said.


The Produttori wines were slow-oxed for 12 hours.

Drank with assorted appetizers. The carne cruda with black truffles was a real standout.

• 2008 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Magnum 459 of 718. Garnet colour. (t-23h) A very restrained nose with some slight floral and dirt aromas and perhaps a little bit of cranberry as well. The palate is similarly restrained, with very dusty tannins and a slight herbal and cough syrup flavour. Very high acidity, bright red fruit, and tough as nails right now. I think with some air this will definitely show more. Whoever contributed the community drink dates of 2014-2020... seriously? (t-12h; slow oxidation) Quick taste in the morning. Hugely different. Tons of aromatics, plenty of floral and gentle red-scented fruits. This opened up so much more. I found that the tannins did soften a little bit. though obviously one's palate is different in the morning than in the evening. (t-1h) A bit more austere again, with the tannins building up, though there was still a certain softness to the wine. A real lighter, elegant nebbiolo, with a very pretty character. (Dinnertime) Not much changes in an hour. (t+2h) All the pouring and increasing of surface area must have done this bottle quite good, as this regained a lot of its gentle feminine character. A lot of the light red fruit character returned, and the tannins got even softer. I think this has some good potential for the long haul, whatever was happening at the Casa at this time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  This was a very red-berry accented wine, with perhaps some cranberry notes on the nose. However, the palate was very gentle with the fruit, and also displayed a slight earthy characteristic. Floral and pretty, and out of the three crus on the northern slope, this was showing the best tonight.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  This was much earthier than the Ovello. There was also an interesting herbal green note on the nose, that I pegged as mint. This seemed to be the middle between the Ovello and Montefico, but was definitely more on the closed than open side. Certainly a bit of a darker character on this as well.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  The most intense and shut down of the three northern crus, I found this to be the most dark and brooding. Lots of sweet black fruit on the nose and palate, but this was swallowed up by the gigantic tannic structure. This is a real beast of a wine that will need a long slumber to emerge.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

With an excellent rabbit/pork belly/roast potato dish.

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pajè 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Quite dark on the nose again, perhaps even darker than the Montefico, but this was the lightest of the three in this flight. There was a very pure and very forward expression of fruit on the attack, but the tannins are super brawny.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Tasted alongside its sibling, Paje, this was definitely funkier and earthier -- perhaps even to the point of a slight bit of mushroom (already?!). I also detected a slight herbal note on this bottle. Definitely the lightest of the three in this flight, this had a very entrancing nose that really drew you in. I think with time, the mushroom note will develop further, making this even more interesting.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo 88 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Perhaps the black sheep of the stable, this is the cru that stands alone. Very dark with plums and blackberries on the nose. This was perhaps the first bottle where I did find a little bit of heat in the wine. The midpalate and finish thins out a bit too.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  I suppose there's a reason that this is considered one of the highlights of the 9 crus. There were more layers of depth in this one compared to the others. Very fragrant, with a lovely floral lift, followed by good density of fruit on the palate, this was the bottle where I thought everything was totally in balance. Intense and powerful, my winner for tonight.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  In contrast to the Rabaja, the Pora was showing basically nothing at all. Very shy and wound up in its shell. You can tell there's some real substance hiding underneath it, but tonight, it just wouldn't come out and play.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Like the Rabaja, this was a very powerful bottle of wine, but was more red-toned than its sibling. I found a very lovely cherry note that stood out over everything else. Juicy and big, but somehow restrained at the same time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2003 Roberto Anselmi I Capitelli 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT

  From half bottle. The nose had a bit of a foxy, white-grape-juice character to it, as well as a slight hint of oxidation in the way a straw wine will give off. Lots of freshness and quite light on the palate, though more acid would make this even more enjoyable. A slight bit of alcohol on the finish as well. A very pleasant and cheerful dessert wine, and a refreshing way to cleanse the palate of a huge backlog of nebbiolo tannin.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

While we all knew going into this that the wines were too young, I think for the most part all of us were very surprised that the differences between the crus were so clear. Another big takeaway was that even though there's been some pooh-poohing of 2007 as a good vintage in Piedmont, these wines were clearly very well made, and for the most part did not display excess ripeness or heat that one might expect in a relatively hot year. This same dinner will be very fun to revisit in 10 years' time, and again in 20.