2021 Albino Rocca Barbaresco, Ovello, Vigna Loreto
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
Many of you missed these wines the first time we offered them, so I was delighted to read Antonio Galloni’s review of 2021 and 2022 Barbaresco yesterday, in which he commented as follows:
I was deeply impressed with the 2021 Barbarescos at Albino Rocca. The wines are aromatic, vibrant and bristling with site character….More than anything else, these wines are defined by superb purity.
I had written up the wines of Albino Rocca earlier in the year, but our offer did not meet with a great uptake….perhaps it needed this kind of endorsement to give it a lift. We have since sold through a good proportion of the stock, but we have one single vineyard Barbaresco remaining in stock, and it is worth drawing your attention to it.
I wrote the following in that offer:
Sometimes you can sense subtle change at an estate – sometimes by the energy about the place, or the pride with which the producer talks about their wines, even their beaming smiles, but most of all, of course, when you get the chance to taste, and your already lofty expectations are exceeded, or in fact completely blown away. This is what happened when I tasted the stunning 2021s at Albino Rocca in Barbaresco. I have rated the wines of Albino Rocca highly in the last few vintages, but I don’t think they have previously excelled like they have excelled in the 2021 vintage – everything seems to have aligned beautifully. No critic has yet reviewed, so you’ll have to take it from me – these wines are special. Change here began much earlier. Since 2004 they started moving towards the use of larger, more neutral, 20 hectolitre casks, which has allowed for a significantly heightened expression of the outstanding single vineyards that Angelo Rocca had carefully added from the 1960s.
A little background for you too:
The Albino Rocca estate dates back to the 1940s, when Albino’s father, Giacomo, sold grapes from the family vineyards and started to make his own wine. Albino’s son, Angelo, established the estate on a firmer footing, adding vineyards in now highly regarded Barbaresco Cru from the 1960s onwards. His passion for the vineyards of the region was matched by his passion for flying. Sadly, he died when his plane crashed in 2012 and today it is his three daughters Daniela, Monica, and Paola as well as his son-in-law, Carlo, who run the estate.
Based in Barbaresco itself, Albino Rocca has vines in four different Cru vineyards, namely Cotta (in Nieve), Ronchi and Ovello (in Barbaresco), Montersino (in Treiso). As mentioned, the style here has gently shifted over time, moving away from a heavier oak accent towards a style that is marked by greater fruit purity and freshness, one in which each Cru is so clearly expressed, the pendulum having swung back to embrace a more traditional winemaking style. The results are outstanding.
And here is the wine in question, which I suggest is well worth consideration, particularly in the hugely impressive 2021 vintage. Frankly, wines from 2021 at sub £200 per case should be hoovered up to my mind, many offer exceptional quality and value.
2021 Barbaresco, Ovello, Vigna Loreto, Albino Rocca
£195 per 6 bottle case in bond
Antonio Galloni’s note on vinous,com, published yesterday.
96 points
The 2021 Barbaresco Ovello Vigna Loreto is powerful and explosive in the glass. A rush of wild red cherry, spice, kirsch, menthol, rose petals and incense races across the palate. Deep, savory and intensely mineral, the 2021 is magnificent. Readers will find a wine of stature and pure breeding. Superb. Drink 2026-2036.
My note and bcakground:
Much more scented, redder fruits than the Cotta. This has a sensational set of aromatics, much more open, with rose, mint and scented orange peel adding intrigue to juicy red fruits. This vintage shows in a very complete manner – it has a fine depth of fruit, but is already showing a certain degree of charm, with such purity to the fruit. Stylish, elegant and with a lightness of touch, though, in such a vintage, there is a sense of energy and depth that ratchets this up in my estimations. A beautiful expression of the Ovello Cru, long, pure and underpinned by a saline, minerally nuance. I found it hard to put the glass down! So good. (SL) Drink 2025-2037.
The Loreto vineyard is situated within the larger, historic, Ovello Cru in Barbareso itself. This is one of the estate’s longest held vineyards and the vines are between 35 and 40 years old, planted at 240 metres above sea level with a south-easterly aspect in a sandy subsoil that yields wines of elegance and charm. Sadly, from a mere 0.5 hectares, Albino Rocca produces just 3,000 bottles.
Please let us know of you interest or click to buy.
All the best,
Simon