2020 Barbaresco
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Tasting notes
Cesare Benvenuto of Pio Cesare tells me that what he loves most about the 2020 vintage is that it is, in his word: contemporary. "You can drink the wines immediately, the tannins are silky and hydrated and Nebbiolo shows a lovely quality of fruit," he says. The 2020 Barbaresco is a blend from four family-owned parcels in Treiso (Il Bricco, San Stefanetto and Bongiovanni) and Alba (Rocche di Massalupo), but 70% of the fruit is from Il Bricco, specifically from the higher part of the vineyard that extends over 400 meters in elevation. Fermentation is in stainless steel with gentle cap management and one month on the skins. The wine ages in oak for 30 months, with 90% of it going into botti, and 10% going into neutral barrique. Starting with the 2022 vintage, Austrian oak was introduced. This is a pretty wine with bright fruit, animating acidity and a silky finish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Ripe ruby-colored, the 2020 Barbaresco Pio offers a lovely floral nose with notes of fresh cherries, roses, raspberries, and wet stones. Supple and midweight, it has a refined and stony texture, with fine tannins, a weightless feel, and a gorgeous fresh apricot perfume on the back palate. There’s a lot to love with this wine, and it’s going to have a wide drinking window over the next 10 years.
The 2020 Barbaresco from Pio Cesare is a soft, open-knit wine to drink now and over the next handful of years. Sweet pipe tobacco, spice, new leather and dried rose petal are nicely lifted throughout. Overall, this is an especially easygoing wine.