Excellent despite drought

The two current Barbaresco vintages were characterised by one thing above all: drought. While 2021 was still able to benefit from the high rainfall in winter, 2022 began drier than it had been for 200 years. It was not until the end of August that rainfall provided relief - and thus probably saved the vintage.

The results of the first 50 or so wines tasted from 2022 are astonishing and, above all, completely different to what you would expect from a drought year. The best Barbaresco wines are dense and juicy, but have elegance, transparency and freshness despite recognisable power. We tasted the finest wines we know of from some wineries in 2022; even many basic qualities are very convincing. Real weaknesses are only evident in a few wines with too much alcohol and stewy or raisiny fruit.

Compared to their younger counterparts, the 2021s are usually a little more bitter. Ideally, the wines are concentrated, deep and multi-layered. The problem with the simpler wines here is not overripeness, but rather a certain sinewiness and lack of depth. The best wines, however, should be able to develop for a long time and in an excellent way.