BAROLO vs BARBARESCO: Comparing & Tasting Two of the Italy's Finest Wines

Good morning, Mr. Scarecrow. What in your view is the difference between Barolo and Barbaresco wines? Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Well, I completely agree with your view. Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today let's compare and taste side by side two of the greatest Italian red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco. We have been going through these tastings for a while now, Rioja versus Rivera del Duero, Chianti Classico versus Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti versus Chianti Classico, and all these appellations and wine styles can highlight the differences in the wine glasses quite well. However, anyone who will tell me that they can distinguish between Barolo and Barbaresco in the blind tasting with 100% accuracy is either God or a liar. I am not saying that there is no difference but perhaps it's not as pronounced as with previously mentioned wines. I believe there is also a vintage and producer playing a role and even though we often hear people say that Barolo is richer and fuller and Barbaresco is lighter and more delicate, I am not convinced that it is always the case. Without having a glass of Barolo and Barbaresco side by side, it might be surprisingly easy to mix them up in a blind tasting. But they are two distinct appellations with unique terroirs, therefore let's explore the similarities and differences between these two wines. To be completely honest, there are other grape varieties planted in Barolo and Barbaresco zones but I will be focusing on Nebbiolo. After all, Nebbiolo is the only grape variety allowed in the wine if you want to label it as Barolo or Barbaresco. In my opinion, Nebbiolo is truly a grape of terroir. I don't think that any other grape has ability to express the uniqueness of Barolo and Barbaresco, the strength and power of these regions as Nebbiolo can. It is a grape that has historically been very significant in both of these areas and has been grown here for hundreds of years. It is the first to bud and last to ripen, making it susceptible to late spring frosts and unpredictable autumn weather patterns. This is also why it is typically reserved for the best sites only. Nebbiolo cannot produce wines deep in color and furthermore it tends to lose its bright red color quickly, developing garnet or brick tones early in its life. You will rarely see that violet bluish tone if it is 100% Nebbiolo. Another significant factor to mention is the high levels of tannins it develops. In fact, in the wrong hands, in the wrong site and wrong vintage, it has the ability to become quite nasty. But no matter the master, the tannin levels will always be high, mouth-coding and sticky. Furthermore, it will also have high acidity levels and both of these factors are crucial for producing wines with great aging potential. While I do believe that Nebbiolo produces wines with crunchy red fruit, roses and violets, I have never perceived it as an overly fruity wine. The best examples, especially with age, will develop an earthy layer, forest floor, truffles, fresh porcini and autumn leaves, which I guess is the reason why I love it so much. First of all, Barolo and Barbaresco are two appellations, situated within the Italian region of Piemonte and on the same bank of the Tanaro river in the area locally known as Langa. However, they are geographically separated and it takes around 20 to 30 minutes to reach Barbaresco from Barolo. Even though the both regions are relatively close to each other, there can be significant differences between temperature and precipitation over the growing season. In general, Barbaresco will have vineyards at lower elevations than those of Barolo and it is also located closer to the Tanaro river and while the river is much smaller than it used to be, it still provides moderating effects and increased humidity. Therefore, Barolo has much more pronounced continental climate than Barbaresco area. Barolo will have vineyards at higher elevations than Barbaresco and they tend to be on much steeper slopes. Though I wouldn't want to retrieve a crushed drone from any of the vineyards like I did here. I have yet to make a video on the soils but broadly speaking soils in Barolo and Barbaresco are quite similar, dominated by clay and calcium carbonate. Clay being a cooler and water retaining soil. Both areas will have some percentage of sand with Barbaresco having higher levels which could also contribute to the delicate and lighter style of the Barbaresco wine we will discuss further. Now the more technical part Barolo and Barbaresco DOCG appellations. Firstly, DOCG is the highest recognized appellation in Italy and both Barolo and Barbaresco fall under this category. It means they have strictly drawn borders with Barbaresco being the smaller one around 740 hectares and Barolo being larger in size with around 2000 hectares under the wines. However, anyone who has been here will know the many ups and downs, the gentle hills one after another creating specific microclimates for each turn and each aspect of the slope. Therefore, great work has been done in both regions Barolo and Barbaresco in creation of their subzones which can also appear on the labels. While these wines tend to be more expensive and often regarded as of higher quality, there really is no hierarchy in terms of quality. Both appellations do not allow fruit from north-facing slopes. Therefore, even if you are growing Nebbiolo within the Barolo or Barbaresco appellation but it is planted on north-facing slopes, it will have to be bottled as Lange Nebbiolo. There is a different requirement for aging though. With Barolo having a minimum aging of 38 months with at least 18 months in oak, for Barbaresco this aging period is shorter at 26 months with only 9 months in oak. For the Riserva labels, the minimum oak aging requirement stays the same but the release date is later. For Barolo it is 62 months and Barbaresco 15 months. This goes out to all my friends and industry colleagues who tell me that Barolo and Barbaresco are oxidized wines with light color, high levels of volatile acidity or even breath. Those times are long gone my friends. In both appellations I see producers working with the highest hygiene standards, aiming for fruit delicacy and finesse regardless of whether they use large or small oak barrels. While you can still find some deeper colored Barolos and Barbarescos, that trend is gone and these wines are finally appreciated for what they are, at least color-wise, pale garnet or brick. I also see more and more producers returning to the use of old oak barrels as well as traditional larger sized botti. Although their origin varies with French and Slavonian still being important, you can also find Austrian oak. Some producers will still use new oak barriques but rarely will they be all new, rather just a small percentage of the blend. Afterwards the wine might be transferred to botti anyway. Therefore the current style in both appellations is rather focused on expressing the seductive aroma and flavor profile of Nebbiolo grape and not the power of oak. All that that we have discussed before is a contributing factor to the final styles of the wine. The general understanding is that Barbaresco is the softer, more approachable, lighter and elegant style of Nebbiolo, while Barolo is the fuller bodied, powerful and masculine and long-aging expression of Nebbiolo. And overall I might agree that Barbaresco could be easier to enjoy when younger and it could show softer tenon structure. Still intense though, it is Nebbiolo after all. However this greatly depends on the site, vintage and producer. And producer is especially important when it comes to Barolo and Barbaresco wines. What I have noticed though is that Barbaresco still offers much better value for money. In local wine shops it is not uncommon to find great producers below 30 euros, while it will be difficult to find a Barolo label under 50 euros. But what is theory without the practical part, right? And talking about theory I wanted to share this book The Wines of Piemonte. I met David Way at the Institute of Masters of Wine Symposium this year and he told me about this book that was about to be released and I was really excited. What I didn't know is that it was such an easy read and it was so easy to understand. I mean already I have highlighted so many things in it. Therefore anyone who loves Piemonte and its wines or any wine lover in general, I highly recommend to acquire it. I will link it in the description below. So now let's finally move to the tasting. Here I have two wines Barbaresco and Barolo from vintage 2019, which is considered a warmer vintage, but many wine critics regard it as a classical wine vintage. The producer that I have here today is Produttori del Barbaresco, which is cooperative but very well regarded, highly respected and definitely not associated with mass production that you sometimes associate cooperatives with. And the other one is very dear to me Enrico Rivetto with his Barolo from Sera Lunga. So let's taste these wines. I will start with Barbaresco. So as I mentioned in the beginning the color really is a brick, a pale brick color and as I told you, you cannot really get that deep color with Nebbiolo grape. And similarly as I mentioned it is not overly fruity wine, like you can feel crunchy red cherries, you can also feel some violets and some roses, you know, and some tar as well, which is often associated with Barbaresco or Barolo wines. But it is not a fruit bomb, not at all. Still very fresh. Let's taste. Wow! The acidity is really high. It has that nice structure from tannins. It is mouth coating, but I would say that in this specific wine or maybe this specific vintage the tannins are more polished. Because the vintage is warmer it could make sense that the tannins were more mature, therefore they might seem softer. Don't get me wrong, it is Nebbiolo grape after all, so it is a tannic wine. However, they are not as aggressive or harsh that you sometimes can get in wines. But maybe it is also the reason because it is Barbaresco. If you remember I told you that Barbaresco is considered to be that lighter style with maybe softer tannin structure. Some chocolate truffles it is showing and some resolved strawberries, raspberries as well. It is opening up quite nicely. Yes, the same bright red crunchy fruit style you can also feel on the palate and the acidity also helps to keep this wine on the palate longer and kind of prolong that fruity flavor. So let's move to wine number two, which is Barolo from Enrico Rivetto from Serralunga. Serralunga is often described to produce these more structured, more fuller-bodied style Barolos. So within Barolo, so within those 2000 hectares, you can also have different styles and Serralunga is the one that produces the more musculine style, the more age-worthy style. And I always really like that area. So similarly as with the Barbaresco, this one is also made from Nebbiolo, therefore the color is not deep. It is a garnet, pale garnet. This one seems more open, more inviting. I mean the Barbaresco was opening up while I was smelling it. And next to a bit riper fruit style, I mean it's not as crunchy. It is more ripe cherries, ripe strawberries, ripe raspberries. Next to those fresh fruit, you can also feel some black earth, some autumn leave, some crushed nuts, fresh crushed nuts. The Barbaresco had more floral characters to it. This has more structure. Let's taste it. Wow, once again we had that prominent feature of Nebbiolo, elevated, high mouth-watering acidity. But the tannin is more pronounced here. It covers your palate completely and it is stickier. It kind of gives that wine a structure, a backbone, a beautiful wine. This is why I love my Nebbiolo wines. They are just so inviting and so beautiful and they are, they kind of have this, they kind of have this full body and that strength, but they're just so elegant at the same time. Like there is this finesse. I really enjoy tasting these wines. You have these fruits, similarly red fruits, riper fruit style, as I mentioned on the nose, the same kind of mirrors on the palate, but they are not the dominant feature. You have that earthiness as well and you have that tannic branch, that tannic backbone and you have high defining acidity. Because of these elements, both of these wines can age beautifully. You know, I'm not the biggest advocate of aging wines for too long. I think it's important to enjoy wines while they still have some fruit, but I was just a few weeks ago in Barolo and Barbersco area, the Ilanga and I got to taste back vintages of several wines, including 1973 and I realized how much I actually do enjoy these old wines still. You know, only on few occasions over the year you get to taste these absolutely magnificent aged wines and then you realize this is what it is and I think these wines can age as well. I do think that Barbersco will reach its drinking window. I will say drinking window. I don't like that term, but I hope you understand what I mean. It will reach that approachability earlier than Barolo will. I mean this specific Barolo is still very tight, but still both of them are really nicely enjoyed right now. They show this elegant, riper versus crunchier fruit style. Great wines I have chosen here. One of the rare occasions when theory actually worked with the tasting, because if you're not new to my channel you've probably seen also sometimes I talk about theory and then when we do the tasting it might be the opposite. I mean it is wine world, it is diverse, it is complex and theory is one thing, but there is always the practical element in wine and each winemaker expresses their terroir, their grape variety, their wine style differently and here I think we caught it greatly. Many wine professionals will agree that another great Italian red grape variety is Sangiovese and here is video I made comparing Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino.