Barbaresco: The Stellar 2021s & Surprising 2022s

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | OCTOBER 29, 2024

The 2021 and 2022 vintages show two very different sides of Barbaresco. Now that most of the wines have been released, the early promise of 2021 is no longer a question of potential but of reality. These are vivid, exceptionally beautiful wines that show the heights Nebbiolo can reach. Conditions were much more challenging in 2022, and yet the first wines I have tasted suggest there may be some surprises in store. We will see.

Teobaldo and Maria Rivella turn out gorgeous, classically built wines in their small cellar in Barbaresco’s Montestefano district.

The 2021 Growing Season & Wines

Two thousand twenty-one was marked by a cold and rainy winter. Spring was quite cool, leading to a delayed bud break. There was a bit of frost damage on April 8. The early part of summer remained cool, with some rain in mid-July that was well-timed. Hail on July 31 affected some areas. Heat picked up in earnest around August 11. Until this point, the vintage had been tracking late, but then heat through September brought the ripening window back to a super-classic mid-October time frame. Rain episodes around harvest do not appear to have been problematic. Relative to 2020, 2021 saw higher highs and lower lows, with a longer growing season vis-à-vis 2020 and strong diurnal shifts during the final phase of ripening that are one of the signatures of this great Barbaresco vintage.

Many producers turned out superb 2021s. The wines are aromatic, deep and structured. In other words, classic Barbaresco. Next to the 2020s, the 2021s are more austere, tightly wound and in need of time. In some cases, though, that youthful austerity might remain. There are some estates where the 2020s appear to have the upper hand over the 2021s. Top producers turned out compelling wines in both vintages that will be fascinating to compare for years to come. I would be hard-pressed to cite consecutive vintages of such high quality.

It is no secret that the wine market is seeing a period of softness, which makes this a great time for savvy consumers looking to build their cellars for the future. Barbaresco remains a superb value in the world of artisan wines of place.

The team at Albino Rocca, led by Monica Rocca, Carlo Castellengo and Daniela Rocca, made some of their finest Barbarescos ever in 2021.