2011 Barbaresco Ovello Vigna Loreto

Things appear to be somewhat in a state of flux at Albino Rocca following the tragic and unexpected passing of Angelo Rocca in 2012, which is certainly understandable given the circumstances. The 2011 Barbarescos are good, but not at estate's customary level. There will be a new single-vineyard Barbaresco with the 2012 harvest, from Montersino, which means that the straight Barbaresco will be made only from Meruzzano. In 2013, Rocca's children Paola, Daniela e Monica decided to make a special Barbaresco to honor their dad. That wine, which is a blend of fruit from the estate's three top sites: Montersino, Ovello and Ronchi, was made with a very long maceration of 55 days and is currently in cask. Tasting the 2013 I could only wonder what the estate's other Barbarescos might taste like if they were made the same way. I am pretty sure most tasters would feel the exact same way. There is no question that Rocca possesses great vineyards and knows how to farm them. That doesn't always end up in the bottle, but the 2013 Barbaresco I tasted in cask shows just how high this small, family-run estate can aim, and it is very high.

Following the untimely death of Angelo Rocca last fall in the crash of his private plane, this top Barbaresco estate is now being run by his three daughters, Daniela, Monica and Paola. Enologist Beppe Caviola, who consulted for Rocca for a decade, continues to make the wine here. The estate was just picking its moscato in mid-September when I stopped by to taste with Daniela, who gave up a career in banking to return to the family estate a few years ago. The Roccas are clearly enamored of the 2011 vintage in Barbaresco, as they made their first riserva since 2006, which Daniela described as "a measure of the vintage's quality and aging potential." As with a number of other producers I visited in September, Rocca is making greater use of large oak casks made in Austria by Stockinger; in fact, as of 2010, their Barbaresco Ronchi is raised entirely in larger barrels. (A Marc de Grazia selection, www.marcdegrazia.com; importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com and Estate Wines Ltd., www.estatewinesltd.com)