2020 La Ca' Növa Barbaresco Montefico Vigna Bric Mentina, Piedmont

The 2020 Barbaresco Montefico Vigna Bric Mentina is laced with hints of white pepper, kirsch, mint, orange peel and chalk. It offers plenty of Montefico signatures, but with an extra kick of midpalate pliancy that adds allure as well as immediacy. Best of all, the 2020 will be ready to go in just a few years' time. The 2020 is showing so well today. It's a dynamite wine

96 points vinous.com

La Ca' Növa Barbaresco Montefico Vigna Bric Mentina is a thrilling, classically styled Nebbiolo from one of Barbaresco’s most revered crus. Montefico sits just north of the village of Barbaresco itself, known for producing wines with tension, precision and serious ageing potential. The Bric Mentina parcel sits on the upper slope of Montefico, facing southwest and capturing just enough warmth to balance the site's naturally firm structure. La Ca' Növa’s expression is pure, unforced, and unapologetically traditional — a wine for Barbaresco purists.

Winemaking is refreshingly hands-off. Fermentation is long and slow in stainless steel with native yeasts, followed by 20 to 24 months of ageing in large Slavonian oak casks. There’s no new oak and no filtration — just raw, honest Nebbiolo that lets the vineyard speak clearly.

Aromatically, it’s lifted and savoury: dried rose, sour cherry, blood orange, fennel seed and crushed granite. The palate is tight and linear, full of bright red fruit, black tea, iron and fine, persistent tannins. It’s a wine that demands air and rewards patience, finishing with precision, grip and a haunting floral-mineral echo.

Food pairing: pair with braised veal osso buco, truffle pasta, wild mushroom ragù or roast duck with juniper and bay. Also superb with firm aged cheeses like pecorino stagionato or Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Cellar potential: best from 2027 onward, with 15 to 25 years of ageing potential. It will evolve beautifully, gaining layers of tar, dried herbs, leather and autumn forest floor.