9/26/2017 - Motz wrote: 94 points

Dark in color, surprisingly so for Nebbiolo. Heady bouquet of naturally ripened fruits and berries, along with orange zest, muddled flower petals, potpourri, spices, and minerals. Strikingly dense attack, in every good way, featuring superb satin texture. The middle graces every part of the palate before profound tannins clamp down at the back. The gritty finish evokes the color crimson for a long, lingering while. The highest quality Barbaresco from the vintage that I recall tasting, and, the same producer's cru bottlings excepted, better than any 2011 too.

Why did Produttori del Barbaresco declassify their cru fruit in 2012? Who knows!? Thankfully, we have the distinct pleasure of benefitting from it. Likely to last for another two decades. 94-95.

Post Script:

I know the reasons given for declassifying the crus in this vintage, and in 2010, decisions for which I am deeply grateful. And, of course, I hope that Produttori declassifies forthcoming vintages. This aside, I have a few thoughts as to these declassifications.

I have tasted several underwhelming crus in recent vintages, one or two even nondescript. The somewhat angular 2008 Muncagota and Pora bottlings, for example, leave much to be desired, whereas the same vintage Montestefano shows like a Tuscan Sangiovese-Merlot blend. In 2009, the Pora came off as fairly straightforward (simple), and the Ovello showed like high quality Barbera, or slightly wonky Barolo. It seems that a house that boasts as many crus, and sources as much fruit from them, as PdB does, and that does not hesitate to declassify, would want to avoid producing cru bottlings like these.

Also, it seems that PdB declassified in the more moderate climate vintages and bottled the crus in hotter vintages, which might be interpreted as a marketing ploy for New World consumers, as hotter vintages typically show more fruit.

Again, only speculations, and certainly not complaints, as the 2010 and 2012 vintages rank very high in quality at very affordable prices.