2020 Vietti Perbacco Langhe Nebbiolo 1.5L

There’s Langhe Nebbiolo and there’s Langhe Nebbiolo.  Typically made to be consumed young and at its juicy best, many of the wines labeled Langhe Nebbiolo are made from younger vines, less-than-ideal exposures or second cuts.  There are, though, a few notable producers who consider their Langhe Nebbiolo an important calling card- a chance for their customers to discover the style and quality of a cantina by employing a more serious regime.  Such is the case at the venerable Vietti cantina in Castiglione Falletto.   The Vietti Winery farms something like eighteen different crus, many of them considered on the short list of the best vineyards in all of the Langhe.  These are names like Bricco Boschis, Ravera, Fiasco, Bussia and, even, Masseria in Barbaresco.  At Vietti, each site is harvested separately and made into wine as individual, unique cuvees. After two years in cask, they are blind tasted by the winemaking team which, in 2020 (the penultimate harvest overseen by Luca Currado) before being slotted to become either the Perbacco Nebbiolo or the winery’s classic Barolo Castiglione.  The former gets bottled shortly after the selection process and gets an additional year in bottle, while the latter will get an extra year in cask to become Barolo. In other words, Perbacco, were it not declassified and called Langhe Nebbiolo, could and probably should, legitimately be called Barolo.  At any other house, that would be good enough.  Consumed three times over the past few months (once at the cantina itself this past April and twice here locally), the Perbacco has consistently shown not only its class but the ebullience of the very special 2020 vintage.  Vivid cherry red with Nebbiolo’s orange-y rim, the nose has that elusive cherry confit element to it that only strengthens and expands with air, while the dried, cracked earth aspect of Barolo’s best terroirs lurks just underneath.  The tannins are bright but melded smoothly into a mid-weight palate that screams for your best cooking.  2016 is a fabulous vintage for this Langhe benchmark wine.  Wouldn’t one of these magnums be the perfect excuse to throw a grand party? 

Vinous Media: The 2020 Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco is another terrific entry-level wine from Vietti. In this vintage, the Perbacco is especially fine. Sweet dried cherry, herbs, mint, crushed flowers, anise and orange peel grace this striking, alluring Nebbiolo. There’s tons of depth and sheer pedigree, things that have not always been present in recent editions…With the 2020 Perbacco seems to once again be a wine that overdelivers, big time. Quite frankly, the 2020 Perbacco is more satisfying than many Barbarescos and Barolos I tasted this year. 92 points