Ovello is one of the great red wines of Italy and is made entirely from the great structured red grape, Nebbiolo; exceptional in taste, complexity and its ability to age for at least a decade, evolving into a silky delicious wine over this time. It’s made by the Produttori del Barbaresco. This highly respected winery cooperative was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation, which means they own approximately a seventh of the appellation. The single vineyard wines, such as this one, are only made in highly rated vintages (all of the grapes go into a blend in other years) and released after four years maturation in the riserva programme.
All single vineyard cru wines from Produttori del Barbaresco are fermented at 30?C and given 32 days of skin contact time before being pressed in large oak barrels for 36 months of maturation in wood followed by a further nine months aging in bottle, prior to release.
* The 2017 cru Produttori del Barbarescos are extremely collectible because there were no 2018 cru wines made, which means the blend will be of higher quality than usual ? and there will be more of it.
The 2018 Produttori del Barbaresco blend is not yet available in New Zealand. ETA is late 2022.
Fast facts on Barbaresco
Barbaresco as an appellation was created in 1894
Barbaresco was given DOCG status in 1980
This is a small wine production area with approximately 700 hectares of vineyards registered to make Barbaresco ? which must be 100% Nebbiolo and made within the same sub region in which the grapes are grown.