I tasted several 2006 Barberas at Vinitaly in April and came away impressed with the vintage as a whole, with the wines offering a lot of fresh fruit flavors and a bit of elegance not often found in wines at this level. Recently, these 2006's have begun to appear at local retailers, so I was definitely interested in buying.
The 2006 Massolino Barbera was just what I was looking for - something that's a bit lighter than many of the bigger Syrah and Grenache-based wines I've been drinking so much of lately. Like the Barberas I tasted at Vinitaly, Massolino's delivered with plenty of fruit but didn't overwhelm the palate. Instead, it offered just that hint of elegance and freshness of the vintage. For the price (about $18 I believe), it's a perfect summertime red for me, and once I'll be drinking again soon.
While Massolino is certainly regarded as a good producer, I'll also be looking out for 2006 Barberas from other producers as I think the vintage as a whole has produced many good wines. Hopefully this also bodes well for the 2006 vintage of Barbaresco and Barolo (though the dollar will need to do some improvement over the next few years if I'm going to be able to afford any of those wines).
No comments:
Post a Comment