2015 Barbaresco Montefico Riserva Produttori del Barbaresco

Balsamic aromas of camphor and new leather mingle with scorched earth and mature black-skinned berry on this full-bodied red. Mirroring the nose, the enveloping palate delivers ripe Marasca cherry, black raspberry and licorice alongside tightly knit, fine- grained tannins before a hazelnut close.

The Produttori del Barbaresco 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico boasts a solid center of gravity with dark fruit, plum, spice and spent embers. Everything about this wine is sultry, velvety and succulent. It goes to follow that the wine's structure is more pronounced, contoured and shapely. This Riserva delivers more sheer fruit weight (in the context of the always elegant Nebbiolo grape) that is carried with grace and poise throughout. Some 16,666 bottles were released.

Montefico lies immediately to the south of Ovello and just north of Montestefano. Produttori's first single-vineyard release from this site was in 1970. In 2015, it seems to combine the tightness of Asili with the fragrant, red-fruited beauty of Muncagota. There's some earthy complexity and black pepper spice, accompanied by gentle but purposeful acidity. 6,500 bottles produced. Drinking Window 2024 - 2038

Savory notes of salty licorice and eucalyptus combine with cherry, plum and tar flavors in this beefy red, which is broad, maintaining a sense of freshness, with ripe tannins that are well-integrated and balanced. The savory note echoes on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2045. -B.S.

The 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico is powerful, intense and very much wound up. Then again, we are talking about Montefico. It's hard not to think the 2015 will be a more complete and engaging wine in time. Today, though, energy and tension dominate. Time in the glass brings out hints of sweet red cherry, mint, tobacco, wild herbs and crushed flowers, all with supporting beams of Montefico tannin. The 2015 is going to need at least a few years to be at its best. Even when that happens, though, the Montefico will be a wine of vintage more than site. 2022 - 2040.