Produttori del Barbaresco Don Fiorino Riserva 2016 (750ML)

98 JD / 98 JS / 98 KO / 18 JR

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva will be available later this spring. It is introspective at the moment. Although it is concentrated with licorice, fresh black cherry, cedar, and black pepper. It is a more brooding wine but retains its style, with leather, red plum, and balsamic, and as it opens it shows more fresh apricot. It is going to be a wine to hold onto and or drink over the coming two to three decades. –Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck

Incredible aromas of white truffle, meat, wet earth, lightly burnt orange peel and pure fruit. Medium-bodied and very compact, with a block of silky tannins that run through the palate and then come out at the end with a gorgeous texture. It’s very drinkable now, but will age wonderfully. This is a special release. They never made a serious blended riserva in their history. -- James Suckling

A new edition to the winery’s already impressive lineup, the gorgeous Produttori del Barbaresco 2016 Don Fiorino Riserva stuns with its impeccable class, structure and youthful tension. Made with 50% grapes from the Produttori’s nine famous crus and 50% from other top sites (Basarin, Cottà, Cole, Fasèt and San Cristoforo), it boasts aromas and flavors of ripe raspberry, star anise, cake spice and almost salty mineral notes. An ode to the parish priest who united 19 growers in 1958 and created the Produttori del Barbaresco cooperative, it’s linear, precise and still youthfully austere. Aged for thirty months in 15hl French casks, it’s extremely well balanced, with firm, refined tannins and fresh acidity. -- Kerin O'Keefe

Deep blackish ruby. Quite a complex, high-toned nose. Sweet and polished with treacle notes. Masses of fruit almost covers the tannins. Luscious.-Jancis Robinson

Named after the priest who restarted the co-op after its beginnings in the village co-op. Catholic co-ops were common then as priests could read and write! Don Fiorino had a brilliant mind and had the foresight to convince the local farmers to make only Barbaresco even though in the 1950s and 1960s it was not easy to sell. 2016 was excellent for both quality and quantity with great diurnal temperature variation, so they decided to make two extra tanks for a super-blend. (But not Asili because they don’t have too much of that cru.) 16,000 bottles were offered direct to importers. The blend spent three years in wood and three years in bottle so it was released only in 2023. The idea is to make Don Fiorino only when the vintage is perfect and they can also make all the single-vineyard wines.