2020 Produttori Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota

Its Origins

“Moccagatta (Muncagota in the regional dialect) was one of the five inaugural crus bottled by the Produttori in 1967, and it has been one of the workhorse bottlings from the cooperative ever since. As Aldo Vacca likes to say of Moccagatta, “it shares the same finesse as Rabajà, but it is lighter in body.” However, Moccagatta lies in a fairly warm and narrow valley, which offsets at least a bit it not having direct southerly exposure or more afternoon sun, and while it is a more delicately styled example of Barbaresco, it is by no means a weak-kneed cru. In my experience, Moccagatta can be one of the most “Burgundian” of the crus in Barbaresco when fully mature, with autumnal notes, red fruit and a smoky character on both the nose and palate.” - John Gilman, View From The Cellar It took a sympathetic local priest to realise the only way for the community of Barbaresco to survive, in the poverty of the late 1950's, was for the winemakers to form a co-operative. The first 19 members made their wine in the church basement, but it didn't take long for this idea to provide them with solvency as well as solidarity. Quality too, as a more secure income allowed the individual growers to maintain the high standards they aspired to. Over decades the co-operative grew to it's current membership of 52, during which time it also developed an extensive and almost bewildering array of single vineyard offerings. Until recently the traditional labelling and less-than-dynamic global marketting strategy meant Produttori was strictly the preserve of experts. Nowadays however, as the world trawls Piedmont for both it's obvious and it's hidden gems, Produttori's delightfully backward labelling and proud obsession with qualtity are revealing it as one of the world's most profoundly undervalued wine treasures.