1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico

Have been enjoying relatively older vintages of Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Cru's from 1996, 1997 and 2001.

Double decanted back into clean bottle for dinner later foday.  I don't have much experience with Montefico cru, but based on this bottle, count me as a fan...

Underscoring the adage, "there are no great wines, only great bottles "... this one is at a beautiful peak right now... gorgeous perfumed florals leaped from the bottle on pulling the cork. Completely irresistible fruit with that inner sweetness that we all look for. Tannins have melted into a lovely lithe framework.... kaleidoscopic, yet very elegant, notes of balsam, truffles, sous bois. Oh yes, this is a good one  :) 

here are interesting notes from John Gilman on Montefico cru published in 2009...

"...my mind, the Montefico takes third place in the hierarchy of the very best crus at the Produttori, for after the Asili and the Rabajà, this has consistently been the most complete and complex of the single vineyard bottlings that I have tasted from this fine winery. As I noted above, most commentators on Piemonte wines would rank Montestefano just a bit ahead of Montefico (though Montefico’s reputation is also excellent), but based on the breadth of these tastings I attended in preparation for this article, I have to give the slight nod to Montefico for its superb elegance and complexity. While Montefico also lies along the Neive border, just a few hundred kilometers to the north of Montestefano, Montefico is the quintessentially elegant Barbaresco cru, with more perfume and a tad more breed than its powerful neighbor to the south. Across the border in Neive from Montefico lies the superb cru of Gallina. As noted above, at one time this beautiful vineyard was owned in its entirety by Domizio Cavazza, founder of the oenological school at Alba and widely regarded as the “Father of Barbaresco”.

            Like Montestefano, the vast majority of Montefico’s vines enjoy a direct, southerly exposure. But the exposure is a bit more southeasterly on the western end of the vineyard, and the hillside starts to swing around towards a southwesterly exposition as the vineyard nears the border with Neive. The ridge that houses Montefico is a bit less tall than Montestefano’s hill, with its peak elevation at 250 meters above sea level. The Produttori has only made a Montefico cru since 1982, when two cousins from the Rocca family decided to join up with the cooperative and brought along their fine holdings in this vineyard. This makes the Produttori’s Montefico one of the most limited of their cru bottlings, as annual production in a high quality vintage is only five hundred (twelve bottle) cases of this lovely wine. Like Montestefano, Montefico tends to deliver a wine of beautiful fruit tones, which start out quite black fruity in the wines youth, but which can pick up some red fruity tones in certain vintages as it ages. It often delivers the finest soil transparency of any of the crus in the Produttori’s lineup (outside of Asili), and this is often synthesized with beautiful notes of truffles, porcini, tobacco and autumnal notes. It is a beautifully poised and refined Barbaresco cru, and one of the great Piemonte vineyards. Montefico can often be so superbly balanced when it is young that it gives off the impression of early drinkability, but to my mind it needs every bit as much time as Montestefano to really blossom, and is a very long-lived cru as well...."