2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Pora, Piedmont

Underbrush, wild herb and dark-skinned-berry aromas form the nose along with a whiff of camphor. On the firm, structured palate, tightly knit but noble tannins offset dried Marasca cherry, cranberry, orange zest and star anise. Tense and youthfully austere, it needs a few years to unwind. Drink 2022–2027. Kerin O’Keefe

95 points Kerin O'Keefe for Wine Enthusiast

Following the suggestion of Produttori del Barbaresco General Manager Renato Vacca, I am starting off this series of nine Riservas with the 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Pora. This wine is usually the most delicate, slender and ephemeral of this set. However, I can immediately confirm that this is not necessarily the case with this exuberant 2015 vintage. The sunny heat of the growing season has successfully drawn out more fruit weight and intensity in this edition of Pora. The wine overdelivers in terms of aromas, but its streamlined and polished personality follows through to the palate. Those divergent intensity levels will smooth out with more bottle age. Some 16,666 bottles were released. Drink 2023-2045.

94 points Monica Larner for The Wine Advocate June 2020

Few wines capture the timeless appeal of traditional Barbaresco like the single vineyard Riservas of Produttori del Barbaresco. Released only in outstanding vintages and sourced from the cooperative's finest crus, these highly sought after wines have become benchmarks for Nebbiolo, admired by collectors for their purity, longevity and remarkable value. Pora is one of the appellation's most historic vineyards, producing Barbaresco of exceptional perfume, elegance and harmony, where refinement takes precedence over sheer power.

Situated on gently sloping limestone and calcareous marl soils just south of the village of Barbaresco, Pora enjoys an ideal south west exposure that consistently produces beautifully balanced Nebbiolo. The outstanding 2015 vintage delivered fruit of exceptional concentration and structure, while traditional maturation in large oak casks preserved the vineyard's distinctive personality, allowing the wine's complexity to evolve with grace and precision.

The colour is a brilliant garnet with amber tinges beginning to emerge. Lifted aromas of wild cherry, blood orange and raspberry are intertwined with dried rose petals, violets, anise, truffle and sweet tobacco. The palate is silky yet beautifully structured, revealing layers of red cherry, cranberry and savoury spice supported by finely etched tannins and vibrant acidity. Hints of tea leaf, forest floor, liquorice and crushed stone build through an exceptionally long, graceful finish that perfectly reflects the finesse and quiet authority of the Pora cru.

Magnificent alongside tajarin with white truffle, braised veal shanks, roast duck, porcini risotto or mature Parmigiano Reggiano. Drinking beautifully with careful decanting, this superb Riserva will continue to reward patient cellaring for another fifteen to twenty years, gaining even greater complexity and elegance.