Cantina Del Pino Tasting with Renato Vacca
Gordon's Wines - Waltham, MA
Tasted February 24, 2016 by RockinCabs with 479 views
Introduction
Renato Vacca, proprietor of Cantina Del Pino, came in from Italy to host a seminar event covering his Barbaresco lineup. Very comprehensive tasting and showed recent vintages as well as a few older examples.
The property held by the Vacca family was acquired in 1920 by Renato's Grand Father and most of the vines producing fruit for the Ovello wines are 70+ years old. Albesani was acquired by Renato about 20 years ago when he started his own label. The estate has been family run since 1958, and contributed to other producers wines until this label was created in 1997.
Flight 1 - Barbaresco Flight (3 notes)
Entry level wines were poured before hand, so this was technically flight #2. Generally these are accessible and nice wines that can be poured at any meal. Waiting on even these wines has significant reward as a taste of the 2008 showed.
Red
2012 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Tightly Coiled, Red Hots, Alpine Strawberry and Vanilla. Palate: Sweet Tarts, Cherry Skin and strong tannin. Finish: Cherry Pits, minerals and cranberry. Needs time
Red
2011 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Medicinal Cherry, Spice, Tarragon and slight wood smoke. Palate: White Cherry, Strawberry, Mint and a "pop" of mid-palate vanilla. Finish: Mineral, Raspberry seeds and berries (red currants?)
Red
2010 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Much more elegant than the prior wines, as it has had time to come together. Cherry, Leather and Oak with a bruised strawberry note. Palate: Cherry/Strawberry notes, fresh red fruit, mineral notes and tanins. Finish: Slate, Tarragon, spice and a Cherry stem note.
Flight 2 - Ovello Flight (3 notes)
Red
2012 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Lavender soap, Red Gummi Bears, Ash and Cherry fruit. Very floral nose on the 2012. Palate: Sour cherry with a payload of mineral and some leather/cured meat notes. Finish: like the other 2012's very very tight.
Red
2011 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Bruised Strawberry, Sandlewood, Spice. Palate: Very full and soft with elegant red fruit, mint, leather and some crushed berries. Finish: Great fresh finish with strawberry, cherry and spice.
Red
2010 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Cherries wrapped in leather and cocoa. Impressive. Palate: Soft and bright fruited throughout. Red berries, raspberry, ripe strawberry, nutmeg and spice. Finish: Slightly tannic but elegant.
Showing much younger than the 2011. Vintage comes through for sure.
Flight 3 - Albesani Flight (4 notes)
One customer of the store brought the 2005 to the tasting to share for comparison. This really gave a great picture of the evolution of the wines, and a shift in style over time.
Red
2011 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Super candied, Cherry Fruit Rollups, Smoke and Earth. Palate: Cherry, Black Raspberry, Spice and a very silky feel. Sexy wine. Finish: Vanilla, red cherries, shaved tobacco and spice.
Red
2010 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Dark fruited nose, spice, cherry pits, sweet plum and earth. Palate: Slightly maderized fruit (like a cured cherry), spice and minerals. Lots going on here. Finish: Minerals & fresh red berries.
Red
2005 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Nose: Medicinal, Brown Sugar, Cherry. Woody nose. Palate: Velvety soft and resolved. Dark Cherry, browning fruit and then extremely dry. Too much wood i think. Finish: Dry with lots of oak.
Closing
Overall these are very pure, terroir driven wines that clearly evolve a lot. It was incredible to see in the Albesani flight as well how the style had changed since the 2005 vintage.
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