Barbaresco 2020 – easy-going wines from a testing vintage

Barbaresco and Martinenga

Walter describes and explains the heterogeneity of these mostly early-drinking wines. His photo shows the view towards Barbaresco and Martinenga. Come back tomorrow for the tasting notes.

The just-released Barbarescos from the 2020 vintage turned out to be more of a mixed bag than I had anticipated. Aware that this vintage comes after the excellent 2019, I tried to keep an open mind but while tasting through nearly 100 wines I couldn’t escape the impression that this vintage is uneven in quality and generally not for long-term keeping.

While the weather pattern (described below) did not exactly contribute to...