by Ian D’Agata
A brief overview
As mentioned in part 1 of this article, the 2021 vintage is looming to be exceptional in Barbaresco. While there were a few green-tinged and fruit-challenged Barbaresco wines, the highs in this vintage are extremely noteworthy overall for the Barbaresco denomination, leading me to suggest that it may actually be that 2021 is better in Barbaresco than Barolo. Not that the latter denomination fared poorly in 2021: not at all, it is a year of magnificent wines in Barolo as well: it’s just that while with Barolo’s wines there is greater regularity across the board with a bevy of exceptional wines (more so than in Barbaresco and not just because in the latter there are more hits and misses), the highest highs are, with the 2021 wines, generally to be had in Barbaresco more so than in Barolo.