1989 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 92.6 points

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  4/25/2023 - forceberry wrote:

  The fruit is sourced from the Ovello vineyard. Released only after a minimum of four years of aging. Bottle #3,725 of total 15,780 bottles. Lot number nor alcohol discernible, but most likely 14% alcohol.
  
  Translucent, somewhat tertiary pomegranate red color with a developed maroon hue. The nose feels odd, somewhat funky and even slightly green-toned with aromas of vaguely tequila-like vegetal character, some tilled damp soil, a little bit of ripe black cherry, light sweet notes of wizened dark berries, a hint of dried flowers and a touch of tar. The wine feels dry, evolved and somewhat vegetal on the palate with a medium body and odd, green-toned flavors of white tequila, freshly turned moist soil and unwashed beets, some sweeter notes of wizened dark fruits, a little bit of tar, light notes of hay, a hint of dark plummy fruit and a touch of sour cherry bitterness. The wine is still quite structured and tightly-knit with its rather high acidity and still pretty grippy tannins. The quite long finish is dry, grippy and slightly vegetal with an intense aftertaste of sour cherries and tart cranberries, some vegetal notes of white tequila and tilled earth, some notes of tar, a little bit of dried dark fruits and a hint of hay.
  
  This vintage of Ovello had a weird, noticeably green-toned streak both in the nose and on the palate, lending it an odd, white tequila-like note along with more classic geosmin notes of freshly turned earth and unwashed beets. I guess the wine must suffer from a bit of geosmin, but I don't know whether that was only a problem of this particular bottle, or the whole vineyard. What I do know is that no other 1989 Produttori Riserva we tasted (Moccagatta, Montefico, Pora, Pajè) showed any of this character, but it also seems that there are several TNs in Cellartracker saying the bottle was off for some reason or another. I don't know whether they had the same problem as we did, but it seems Ovello is a much more iffy Cru in 1989 than the others. Although there seem to be a good number of great bottles as well, I still might steer clear of it, just in case. Leaving the wine unrated because it doesn't seem to be in pristine condition, but based on the fruit intensity and sense of structure, this wine is still far off from its apogee. At least the wine isn't going to fall apart anytime soon.

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  9/2/2020 - BillBell73 Likes this wine:

  This was excellent and especially impressive after a host of tired 70s and 80s vintages I’ve tried from the Produttori. Here, finally, a bottle that has aged like nebbiolo should - although from the notes here and my own experience, perhaps I got lucky. At any rate, this has all the classic notes of rose, tar, dried cherries, and a slight bit of VA with none of the overbearing oxidation, funk, and pruniness that has marred so many of my older Produttori.

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  5/28/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote:

  Bonhams Pre-Auction Tasting (Bonham's - San Francisco, CA): Tasting, brief note. An odd wine that I couldn't tell if I really enjoyed or thought tired. Lots of earth, leather, maturing red cherry and dried rose petal. Fruit more pronounced on palate but seemed to come in and out of its shell the two times I tasted it this evening. Confusing.

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  5/28/2015 - drwine2001 wrote:

  Bonhams Pre-Auction Tasting (San Francisco): Faded color. Funky nose that was not right. Some rose florality but otherwise pretty deteriorated and not very good at all.

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  4/10/2015 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points

  The nose showed ripe berry with dried flowers, spice and crushed fall leaves. On the palate, it displayed soft and silky textures yet remained fresh throughout with flavors of red berry, tobacco and dried floral tones. Dried cherry and floral notes lingered on the finish with a hint of still-youthful tannin.

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