The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is darkly concentrated and among the richest wines in this series of single-vineyard Riservas. Montestefano is angular, textured and bold with dark fruit aromas, dried blackberry, toasted almond and cured tobacco. With this vintage, you get an age-worthy wine that offers brawn and power for drinking in the medium term, but it will become increasingly silky and slender with time. Dusty tannins and crushed stone appear on the long finish. There were 14,486 bottles produced.

Produttori del Barbaresco has been hitting it out of the ballpark these past years with a string of excellent vintages that resulted in the production of their entire line of Riservas. However, that good momentum comes to an end because the Riservas were not made in 2018. That vintage saw all the fruit blended into one non-MGA Barbaresco. And with the 2017 Riservas reviewed here, you might find these bottles hard to find. Production was 30% lower in this growing season because of a very careful fruit selection process. In fact, Aldo Vacca calls 2017 a "roller coaster vintage with frost, then hail, then a summer drought."

The 2017 Barbaresco, sourced from 100 hectares and 54 growers, was aged for 24 months in large oak casks. It offers layers of aromatics woven together with tar, forested earth, dried cherry, and sweet tobacco. The palate is ripe and pure, with raspberry leather, tea leaf, and blood orange. It is mouth-filling, with fruit that is long and persistent, fine tannins, and a lifted finish. Finessed and elegant, the 2017 is drinking beautifully now and will continue to drink well over the next 15 years. 2021-2036.

The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is a potent, savory wine. Today, the fruit is very much in the background. A brooding, backward Barbaresco, the Montestefano clearly needs time, it is a somber, imposing Barbaresco. Dark plum, earthiness, cloves, menthol and licorice infuse the finish with notable gravitas. There's plenty of Montestefano breadth and resonance. 93+

Dense and rich, if on the austere side now, courtesy of burly tannins, with black cherry, plum, tar and mineral serving as the main flavor themes. Reveals terrific energy and length, with a chalky feel on the finish. Best from 2027 through 2045. 1,362 cases made, 300 cases imported.