1990 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano

Community Tasting Notes (25) Avg Score: 91.9 points

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  11/13/2023 - Max S. Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Heat damaged, but not terribly so. Just enough to give it a hint of port on the palate. Otherwise dark fruited hidden among strong tertiary notes.

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  4/25/2023 - forceberry wrote: 95 Points

  The fruit is sourced from the Montestefano vineyard. Released only after a minimum of four years of aging. Bottle #8,492 of total 21,565 bottles. Lot number L4.175. 14% alcohol.
  
  Moderately deep, somewhat translucent and still relatively youthful garnet color with a slightly evolved pomegranate hue. The nose feels somewhat dry and slightly evolved but at the same time wonderfully fragrant with attractive aromas of brambly black raspberries, some wizened dark fruits, a little bit of beef jerky, light ferrous notes of blood, a little bit of ripe red cherry, a hint of wood tar, a touch of pipe tobacco and a whiff of smoke-cured meat. The wine feels juicy, silky and moderately ripe on the palate with a full body and a taste that doesn't seem young anymore, nor particularly old either; there are intense flavors of dark fruits, some leather, a little bit of ripe black raspberries and strawberries, light crunchy notes of fresh, slightly tart dark plums, a hint of earth and a developed touch of beef jerky. The overall feel is quite firm and muscular, thanks to the quite high acidity and still rather assertive and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is ripe, richly-fruited and quite grippy with a long, dry aftertaste of tobacco and brambly black raspberry, some leathery tones, a little bit of sweeter-toned dark fruit, light strawberry tones, a hint of fresh black cherry and a touch of earth.
  
  This was a rather impressive effort, coming across as slightly bigger and more substantial than most other bottles in our 2004-1989 Produttori Riserva vertical, yet not any softer or sweeter than any other wine - this is through-and-through a textbook Produttori with some age. Compared to some other wines of similar age, this didn't feel as youthful, but the wine isn't fully mature, either. There are some evolved earthy and meaty tones, but there is still a lot of room for further development - both in structure and in the fruit department. All in all, this is a fantastic example of Montestefano that drinks beautifully right now, but will potentially get even better over the next decade or decades. Very highly recommended.

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  2/21/2023 - MC2 Wines wrote:

  Knights of Alba (KOA) BYO Barbaresco Dinner (Legacy Records): Not quite as perfect of a bottle as the Rabaja but not as bad as the Marchesi di Gresy either. It’s got this shallowness to it that doesn’t quite work. Dark fruit, but without the life.

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  11/17/2022 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points

  88&90 Produttori Study (Cru and Domaine, Portland OR): The bottle I had last year was expressive, but this was on a completely different level than the one I had 20 months ago. There is a lot of perfume with a mineral-driven take to the tones of violets, black cherries, tobacco, raspberries, tar, roses, peppercorns, spice notes, and crushed rocks. The Medium/full bodied feel is refined with a searching quality along with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. This is just wonderful and showing off everything it has to give.

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  9/25/2022 - jviz wrote: 94 Points

  This was showing marvelously. At peak, pretty tertiary notes but still some red cherry fruit having around. This had largely resolved tannins and tons of class

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