2010 Barbaresco Albesani
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2010 Barbaresco Albesani is a very different wine (compared to the Barbaresco Ovello) with a softer, broader approach in the mouth layered by more spice and dark fruit. The wine-s structure is defined, firm and enduring. The fruit is immediate and inviting: Barbaresco Albesani will probably evolve faster and is ready to drink sooner than Ovello. Drink: 2016-2028. Renato Vacca releases his Barbaresco one year later than most and is extremely excited about 2010. I visited him on a beautiful spring day as his elderly father fumbled with a ladder to pick fruit off a cherry tree in the background. Renato and his family once sold fruit to Produttori del Barbaresco before Cantina del Pino was founded in 1997. The winery was built in 2000 and Renato introduced the Albesani cru in 2005 to offer contrast to the wine he is best known for, the Barbaresco Ovello. Together he farms five single vineyards in Neive and Barbaresco (Starderi, Albesani, Gallina and Ovello) and makes three expressions of Barbaresco. Various American importers, including: Artisan Wine, Norwalk, CT; tel. (203) 866-4552; Cavatappi Distribution, Seattle, WA; tel. (206) 282-5226; Diamond Wine Merchants, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 567-9897; Ideal Wine and Spirit Co., Medford, MA; tel. (781) 395-3300
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Cantina del Pino's 2010 Barbaresco Albesani is another huge, powerful wine. Black cherries, smoke, licorice and asphalt hit the palate in a powerful, structured Barbaresco that is going to require some time. As always, the richness and depth of Albesani comes through, but in this vintage, there is also plenty of underlying structure to allow the 2010 to age gracefully for years.
The 2010 Barbaresco Albesani is rich, deep and powerful. Here the fruit is darker and richer than the Ovello. Spices, tar, leather and licorice are some of the notes that develop in the glass, adding considerable weight. Layers of fruit build to a finish that is at once huge yet weightless. Think Chambertin with the guts of Nebbiolo. Cantina del Pino's 2010 Albesani is shaping up to be one of the great wines of the vintage.