“The exceptionally high quality of the Barbarescos here is no longer news, as the wines have been superb for many years… If this were a younger and more fashionable estate, Albino Rocca would be a darling of wine lovers and sommeliers alike, the sort of buzzy estate everyone talks about. The Barbarescos in particular are certainly deserving of that sort of attention.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous Reading Galloni’s words above, our thoughts drifted inevitably to the great Angelo Rocca, who died suddenly in 2012. In the years before his passing, he had begun to reconsider the stylistic path the estate had briefly explored in the cellar. Like many producers of his generation, Angelo had experimented with the more modern idiom that swept through Piemonte in the late twentieth century. Yet toward the end of his life, he was gently guiding the estate back toward a more classical articulation of Barbaresco: wines of clarity, proportion and quiet authority. In all respects, his daughters — Daniela, Paola and Monica — have now completed that return. The estate today feels both grounded and renewed, a place where tradition is not a heavy anchor but rather an inspiration. Of course, only large oak (botti) is used in the aging, and now, more and more, wooden fermenters and longer skin contact are also becoming the norm. The wines of Albino Rocca are in a great place. In the cellar, Paola Rocca and her partner, long-term cellar master Carlo Castellano, continue to kick goals. “The expression, elegance and purity in the wines have been heightened,” says Daniela Rocca. The Rocca family’s work in their vineyards has long been a beacon of quality, and even here, practice is evolving to stay ahead of the rapidly changing climate. The Rocca family have crafted a brilliant portfolio of 2022 Barbaresco. The wines’ balance, like a tightrope walker over the Tanaro River, and lifted perfumes, are impossible not to love. They are generous, and yet they also possess the poise, finesse, and classical tannins that will appeal to the Piemonte cognoscenti. The cellaring potential is undeniable, even if the wines are ready to grace restaurant lists and be enjoyed in the short term. It is telling that Antonio Galloni reportedly left the tasting having purchased bottles for his own cellar — praise expressed in the most meaningful way! On a final note, this year’s supporting cast plays a blinder: from the cooler 2024 season, there is so much brightness, tension and perfume in the entry levels. Each wine is singing and, in a market increasingly defined by price escalation, these are wines that still speak persuasively of place and offer brilliant value in equal measure. Viva Barbaresco!