2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina
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Tasting notes
The Elio Grasso 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina shows hot-vintage intensity with dark cherry, blackberry and spice. Barbera has a medium-long vegetative cycle, and it handles the warm seasons very well, although Gianluca Grasso tells me that the upcoming 2022 vintage is especially well-suited to this grape. This wine sees 20 to 25 days of submerged cap and finishes with 18 months in oak. The grape has naturally high acidity, "but climate change helps mitigate that issue," says Gianluca.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina offers an appealing combination of fruit intensity with Monforte structure and savoriness. Scorched earth, leather, tobacco, cedar and dried herbs all open in the glass. A lengthy ferment with submerged cap maceration yields a distinctly Barolo-like Barbera with a good bit of complexity but less overt fruit than is often found in most Barberas.