March 24, 2024 - Deep garnet to deep ruby, subtle nose with hints of rose, black currant, tar, earth, licorice, and a little must, "nervy" on the attack with dark, slightly stewed fruit, hints of orange rind, strong acidity and strong tannins, plump finish with black tea, floral notes, wood, cherry, subtle spice, and more
March 15, 2024 - This wine is light ruby-garnet colored. In the nose the wine has pronounced notes of red fruits, like strawberries, dried leaves, graphite, black pepper, leather and a balsamic touch. In the mouth the wine is intense and juicy yet extremely elegant with silky tannins, a high but also very smooth and lively acidity, and a medium+ body. The wine is beautifully balanced and has a long and suspenseful finish. Over all a great Barbaresco Ovello right within its drinking window - if you like Nebbiolo within its fruitstage, this wine is now perfectly ready. Compared to other vineyards from the same vintage (I already tried Rabaja and Montestefano) Ovello is my indisputable favorite. Glass I used: Riedel Veritas Pinot New World.
November 1, 2023 - E&R's Prequal to 25: Nebbiolo: Smells very pretty and floral; lovely tones throughout. Palate entry is soft in texture, showing mild tannins but they do build quickly as you hold it in the mouth. Spicy, showing more tannins at the end of a pretty rich overall experience. A nice, really balanced effort that I think will drink well in its youth, but really hit its stride with a decade+ age.
November 1, 2023 - Prelude 25-an E&R Nebbiolo joint (E&R Wines, Portland OR): The nose is perfumed and youthful with fresh tones of rose petals, violets, red cherries, strawberries, roasted herbs, tobacco notes, raspberries, licorice, spice notes, and some earth. There is excellent depth and style to the nose that naturally shows off more primary tones, but they are in youthful harmony right here. The Full bodied feel is silky and refined with tart, high acidity and seamless, high tannins that are on the sneaky side. This is a great start to the tasting and I am a big fan of what Produttori did in 2015. This will age gracefully for years, but the open-knit nature of the vintage means there will be a real long drinking window.
November 1, 2023 - E&R Prequel 25 - Mostly older nebbiolo (Portland, OR): This was initially a brick wall, aromatically mute and a quite tannic, astringent palate albeit with some pleasant chewiness. With air some pleasing, slightly candied fruit emerged. It might be able to enjoy this with a slab of meat but it needs around 10 years for my preferences. Strong hold
June 30, 2023 - Looked much older in the glass. Leather, mushrooms, floral and earth. Others liked it more than me. Just seemed a little tired even though it was not that old.
January 12, 2023 - 2015 Produttori & Friends (Nella Kitchen & Bar, Los Olivos, CA): I struggled with this bottle, though my views were decidedly off-center relative to the enthusiastic reception received from others in attendance. A yeasty nose with bitter chocolate notes, presumably oak-derived, and I perceived more oak on the palate, which i found distracting. A tannic wine, with plenty of dark fruit. A thread of volatility provided some lift.
December 9, 2022 - Earth and chocolate and dark fruit note.
December 5, 2022 - On day two. Dark cherry, tobacco and cola. Earth. Still got some grippy tannins. Not all that harmonious as it were. But who am I go complain?
September 28, 2022 - Delicious right now. Elegant aromas of blueberries, jasmine, tar, iron, and cigar. A touch more red fruit on the palate. On the ripe and sweet side for a Produttori wine, but there is decent acidic balance. Tannins are firmly present but not intrusive. In fact, structurally, I think it is perfect right now. And there is plenty of aromatic complexity. The weakness of this wine is that it lacks energy, which will dissipate further with age. So my verdict: drink now.