Q&A: Wine & Food Questions
Wine drinkable? Cannot find info on internet
I have a bottle of Battaglio Barbaresco DOCG 2005 Produzione Limitata. L.08-126. The pink label on the neck of bottle says AAA 07755974. Can you tell me if this wine is still drinkable, or should I save it? Thanks!
Answer From Expert Roger C. Bohmrich, MW
Barbaresco, one of the trio of Italy's so-called iconic "3 B's" together with Barolo and Brunello, is at its best a stunning, perfumed, multidimensional red wine. While often deceptively pale in color, a fine Barbaresco exhibits a sensational, intense nose of small red fruits, dried flowers and licorice together with a firmly-defined palate which needs bottle aging to open up, soften and gain in length (although perhaps less than the typical Barolo). I think Barbaresco is one of the world's greatest, most exciting and also most individual red wines. I have not tasted the 2005 Battaglio - a producer less well-known - but the vintage is certainly very good to excellent overall and capable of further cellaring. In other words, unless your bottle has been stored in a rack in the heat of a kitchen, it should still be youthful. If in doubt, drink it now with a lamb stew or grilled steak, or keep it at least a few more years as it is only with aging that the greatness of Barbaresco is revealed.
About The Expert
Roger has enjoyed a lengthy career in the wine trade as an importer and retailer, and at present he is an educator, speaker and consultant. He set up and managed Millesima USA, a New York merchant affiliated with Europe's leader in direct sales of fine wines to consumers. Previously, he served as senior executive of Frederick Wildman & Sons, traveling regularly around the world to visit wineries and taste the new vintage from barrel. Roger became one of America's first Masters of Wine in 1993.
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