2020 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico, Piedmont

A complex, beautifully layered wine, the 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico expresses so many of the attributes that make the wines from this vintage and site so intriguing. The bouquet alone is wonderfully complex. Dried herbs, mint, pine, tobacco and cedar open first, leading to a core of chiseled dark-toned fruit. A vertical, structured Barbaresco, the Montefico is superb.

96 points Antonio Galloni vinous.com

Two standouts from the 2020 vintage are Montefico and Asili. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico comes from a site that is distant from the warm air that travels through the Tanaro River Valley and is closed within an amphitheater. This is a beautiful vineyard that looks toward the village of Neive and has active limestone soils. The wine is especially compact in texture and has a distinctly herbal note, with dried rosemary and lavender, that gives it a Mediterranean or botanical feel. The palate delivers a brief moment of softness, but otherwise the wine is structured and rich.

96+ points Monica Larner robertparker.com

Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico from Piedmont is a tightly wound, intensely structured Nebbiolo that stands among the most powerful and ageworthy of the famous Riserva series. Made only in outstanding vintages, Montefico is highly prized for its combination of muscular tannins, soaring aromatics, and mineral driven finesse, making it a favourite for serious collectors and traditionalists who value Barbaresco with a firm backbone and slow developing complexity.

The Montefico vineyard is a steep, south and southeast facing slope just outside the village of Barbaresco, with compact limestone and clay soils that encourage low yields and concentrated fruit. The site’s cooler exposure and high elevation contribute to the vineyard’s reputation for producing wines with racy acidity, firm structure, and tightly coiled energy. Montefico is often described as the cru that bridges the aromatic lift of Pajè with the firm, savoury structure of Ovello, offering the best of both profiles.

Produttori del Barbaresco, founded in 1958, is a cornerstone of traditional Nebbiolo winemaking in Piedmont. Their approach to Montefico is entirely classic: spontaneous fermentation in concrete tanks, long maceration on skins, and thirty six months of maturation in large neutral Slavonian oak casks. This minimalist method allows the vineyard’s natural character to shine through without cosmetic winemaking influence.

In the glass, Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico shows vivid aromas of sour cherry, cranberry, rose petal, licorice, mint, and crushed stone. The palate is laser focused and linear, offering taut red fruits, vibrant acidity, firm yet fine grained tannins, and a long mineral laced finish that promises decades of graceful evolution. Montefico demands time to unfold, typically rewarding cellaring of fifteen to twenty years or more with extraordinary depth and aromatic complexity.

Ideal with slow cooked meats, truffle dishes, roasted game, or mature hard cheeses, Montefico is a Barbaresco for lovers of Nebbiolo in its most classical and unadorned form—pure, structured, and deeply expressive of site.