2001 Barbaresco Montestefano

At fifteen years of age, Rivella's 2001 Barbaresco Montestefano remains deeply colored, intense and imposing. Then again, those are all signatures of Montestefano, where the wines are often quite powerful. Scents of lavender, herbs, dried flowers, mint, spice and leather gradually unfurl in the glass, but my sense is that this is a wine made to be enjoyed in its fully tertiary stage, which means it still needs at least another few years in bottle to be at its best! Readers will find a beautifully balanced, virile Barbaresco endowed with tension, energy and plenty of upside potential.