2011 Barbera d'Alba Cerretta

(from clay soil; 6.5 grams per liter acidity): Good deep ruby-red. Compellingly pure aromas of black raspberry, minerals, violet and smoked meat, plus a hint of dark fruit pastille. Boasts outstanding vinosity and complexity, offering extraordinary intensity and thrust to its sweet dark berry and floral flavors. The wine's terrific energy cleanses the palate on the very long, sweet finish. This is 15.5% alcohol but I would never have guessed. Conterno started harvesting his barbera on September 6 in 2011--or a full ten days earlier than the harvest in the furnace-hot vintage of 2003.

The 2011 Barbera d'Alba Cerretta is exceptionally beautiful. Graphite, smoke, crushed rocks and black fruit emerge from the 2011 Cerretta. Linear, tense and tightly wound, the 2011 impresses for its exceptional polish and balance. The intensely saline finish is particularly of note. This is the vintage in which the Cerretta matches and perhaps even surpasses the Cascina Francia. What a stunningly beautiful, vivid wine this is.

The following wines were tasted from barrel. The 2011 Barbera d’Alba Cerretta opens to dark concentration that oozes blackness and inky density. Roberto Conterno remarks that 2011 presented a more saturated color profile than most years. Dark fruit, leather, moist earth, fresh prune and cherry show the best side of Barbera. The wine is especially rich and fleshy in the mouth with a smooth, pulpy feel that lasts many long minutes. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. There is something almost ecclesiastical about a cellar visit to Giacomo Conterno at the foot of Monforte d’Alba. Enter his gates and you immediately cross an imaginary threshold into a spiritual and sobering world. The winery has the feeling of a vast cathedral with soaring ceilings and open spaces. Impeccable oak casks, each beautifully varnished, line the cellar perimeters like a succession of small family chapels. Roberto Conterno glides slowly and steadily across the tiled floor as if he were a priest lost in a contemplative moment of prayer. He carefully wipes the spigots clean of each stray drop with a white handkerchief he keeps at his side. The official tasting of his wine is performed with the ceremonial precision and religious intensity of a First Communion. And, just as when Mass has concluded, there’s a subtle sense of relief when you finally step back out into the sunlight. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404; The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484