Barbaresco 2006 Produttori

5/31/10 -

So – the Produttori, again - the combination of quality and value means that we just can’t stop from drinking and talking about these wines. The news, if you haven’t heard it: for the 2006 vintage the Produttori have decided not to bottle any of their single-vineyard Barbaresco Riservas. Aldo Vacca, manager of the Produttori, describes this as a business decision that was not based on the very high quality of the wines, but instead because there have been so many strong vintages in a row (basically 2004-2009) that they were concerned that there would be too much wine on the market. The wines were vinified and aged separately as per their normal practice; following an initial release of the 2006 Barbaresco (which was a terrific bottle at the time), all of the Riservas have now been blended together to produce just one wine. It’s an outstanding Barbaresco that would have made history in the days before single-vineyard wines, and it has all of the complexity one would expect in an old-fashioned multi-vineyard blend. The richness and dry extract in good 2006s make this drinkable now, but we’re going to stash some in the cellar for future reference. At $30 a bottle this is a crazy buy.