Overlook Rocca’s whites at your own peril! This unique wine is the only Cortese grown within the boundaries of Barbaresco. The fact that the Roccas grow it should be clue enough that we’re onto something special. The one-hectare plot of 1980s vines are rooted in Montegrosso d’Asti (in Barbaresco, just south of Asti) on clay and limestone soils.

Angelo Rocca was a great fan of Burgundy. He went as far as planting Chardonnay vines in the family’s home village of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio. Yet it is the estate’s Cortese that stands out for us. Rocca always believed in crafting a structured, food-friendly Cortese from low yields. His family has taken the wine to another level, weaving in complex mineral-savoury hints, limpid texture and a nip of reductive freshness.

Fermented in a stainless steel and mature French oak, and aged on lees in barrel, you can expect layers of satiny orchard fruit, fragrant tangerine peel and yellow flower, all neatly underpinned by zing of lemon rind, fine acidity and some phenolic chewiness on the finish. A Cortese of uncommon personality!

Like most Rocca wines, the Nebbiolo d’Alba comes from a single vineyard—a parcel between Barolo and Barbaresco in the westernmost section of the Seno d'Elvio subzone. Aptly, and with a Tolkien flourish, this area is known locally as Terra di Mezzo: Middle Earth. The Nebbiolo vines range from 15 to 60 years old, and the Rocca family matures this wine for 12 months in large Austrian and German oak casks.

Rocca’s Nebbiolo d’Alba perennially offers outstanding depth and interest. This ‘baby Barbaresco’ is a preview of what to expect from the Barbaresco which will be released the following year. Already enticing, expect waves of strawberry and wild berry sweetness alongside blonde tobacco and dried herb notes. All this loveliness is carefully framed by supple, velvety tannins. It’s a classy wine for the level, with a surprising measure of purity and finesse. Nebbiolo’s elusive beauty doesn’t tend to come cheap, but here it does.

As the price of great grower wines continues to rise, this wine’s marketplace value just increases. And so does the quality. In addition to its classic source—a parcel of old vines in Meruzzano—Rocca’s Barbaresco now takes in a selection of young-vine fruit from three Barbaresco Cru parcels: Ovello, Cottà and, principally, Ronchi. These impressive sources, and meticulous winemaking—three weeks on skins and maturation exclusively in large, low-impact oak botti for 24 months—result in a benchmark wine for this level. As you can read in the reviews below, the 2021 release is not only a knockout, it is arguably the finest wine the Rocca family has bottled under this label. It should go without saying that Nebbiolo lovers should not hesitate: “This is what Barbaresco is all about.”

This celebrated, limestone-rich Barbaresco Cru runs along the southern belt of the appellation, near the town itself. The Rocca cellars sit just above this southeast-facing vineyard—leading the site to become synonymous with Albino Rocca. Ronchi is also the oldest and largest holding of the estate. It extends almost six hectares (three of which are Nebbiolo) and comprises roughly a third of the total Cru area. Rocca’s Nebbiolo vines are between 50 and 70 years old, offering an ideal combination of vine age, southeast exposure and deep clay-limestone soils. Ronchi consistently produces some of Barbaresco’s greatest wines: wildly aromatic, rich in complexity and structure.

The Montersino Cru lies at the southern tip of Barbaresco, close to Treiso, at 320 metres above sea level. The Roccas’ 0.42-hectare parcel perches at Barbaresco's highest and coolest area. Angelo Rocca planted the south-facing vines in 1998 on very poor clay and limestone slopes with thin layers of sandstone. The sandstone brings finesse, as does the altitude. Daniela Rocca highlights that this soil type (locally called Formazione di Lequio) resembles Barolo’s Monforte and parts of Serralunga. Rocca’s Montersino has really stepped up to the plate this year.

One of the great Crus of Neive, Cottà was among first sites in Barbaresco to be produced as a single vineyard wine. The Roccas work with a micro-parcel of 50-year-old vines in the middle of the southwest-facing slope. The parcel is adjacent to their Gepin (Barbera) site and faces the Ronchi vineyard. The tiny holding produces no more than 2,000 bottles annually. The site’s sand-rich clay/marl soils and warmer microclimate grow generous yet fine wines that marry beautifully with Rocca’s elegant interpretation of Nebbiolo. The note says it all.

Barbaresco’s Ovello Cru spans a ridge with both slopes planted to vines. Within this large Cru are several delimited parcels (historical plots, if you like). Rocca’s Vigna Loreto is one of them, a tiny plot that is effectively a monopole. Vines here are around 45 years old, and Rocca first vinified the parcel as a separate bottling in 1990. Sitting on the sunnier, south-west side of the ridge, the nearby Tanaro River provides moderating influence. This results in cooler nights than the twin side of the ridge. The clay and limestone soils are also sandier and lighter than in the rest of Ovello, giving the wines here far more finesse. The catch: vines from Loreto must be cropped at 10 hl/ha less than other Ovello vines if the wine is bottled under the parcel name. This wine must therefore balance its finesse with real density. As in most years, the Ovello cuvee marries Ronchi’s architecture with Cottà’s prettiness.

Albino Rocca’s Riserva takes the award for the most enhanced wine in the cellar. Each year the Rocca family vinifies it from a small selection of the Ronchi Cru and the vineyard’s most powerful fruit from its oldest wines. Unlike the Cru Ronchi, the Riserva is made using a submerged cap, which holds the cake under the must’s surface during fermentation. The resulting wine is richer in tannin and colour, preparing it for two years in large oak casks and a further two years in the bottle before release.

In the distant past this label reflected its modernist upbringing, which included partial aging in barrique. My, how it has transformed. Today, the wine is fermented in upright oak tini before aging in large Austrian and Slavonian oak ovals. So, while it remains the darkest and most powerful wine in the Rocca cellars, it’s a far more pure and balanced wine than in the past.