2020 Produttori Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano 1500ml

Its Origins

“The Montestefano vineyard lies at the top of a ridge (with the cru of Cole just to its west on the same hilltop) along the border between the villages of Barbaresco and Neive. In many ways, the more powerful style of the wines from Montestefano are more akin to the very best Barbaresco crus in the neighboring village of Neive than they are to the generally more elegant crus to be found in Barbaresco proper, and Montestefano is often referred to as “the Barolo of Barbaresco” for its firm, tannic structure and impressively powerful personality. Along the Neive border, its most immediate neighbor to the north is the Montefico vineyard, which lies on a similar ridge with like exposures, but which produces quite differently styled wines. Historically this is a very important vineyard, as Montestefano was one of the very first crus to be bottled on its own, with the first commercial release to bear the name of Montestefano on the label being the 1961 vintage produced by Beppe Colla at Prunotto. This was also one of the first crus to be bottled on its own by the Produttori, as it joined the Pora, Moccagatta and Rabajà vineyards in the lineup of Riserva Speciale bottlings produced in 1967.” -- 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.