San Barnaba, Serralunga d’Alba ~ Infos and impressions ( 2023 wines: Verduno Pelaverga, Langhe Freisa, Langhe Nebbiolo, Derthona)
Good things can lead to other good things. Like being at Terrazza da Renza in March 2023 with two great local friends (Anna & Claudio) and bump into Lorenzo Marolo at a jolly table of friends. After less than half a minute I needed an empty glass and got to taste a wine/label I had never seen or heard of before: San Barnaba and their Langhe Nebbiolo 2023. Roberto (Bob), being at the table with Lorenzo, provided me some info while the Nebbiolo in the glass gave me a very solid, beautiful impression - it matched the sunny moment at Terrazza - with dapper Pony prancing around - just perfectly.
A bit later, I spotted the Nebbiolo again at More e Machine - always a good sign that a new wine/producer is interesting and that I might want to get to know it closer. Plus, speaking to several producers and friends in the area made my curiosity grow even more. And if Marcel Mühlberger speeds from Ulm to Langa because of San Barnaba, well, this means something too.
Time flies: In July 2024 I find myself in Borgata Sorano, a beautiful spot in the northern (and lower) part of Serralunga, where San Barnaba found their new home and cellar. But who are they? Two brothers (working in the sales sector of vineyard properties and real estate: Roberto & Giovanni Pasquero), got together with Francesco (Cisky) Rocca, son of Bruno Rocca, of the correspondent azienda in Barbaresco. Three friends, one idea, one motivation, one passion and one pursuit: to make wines as friends for friends, honest wines (in the vineyard, in the cellar and on the list), accessible for everyone, without caring too much about business plans and numbers.
San Barnabas goal is to craft - step by step - all wines in estate-owned vineyards and follow their principles of nature-orientated and low intervention winemaking (even with the leased parcels and “negoce” crop where they keep control). What comes into bottle they want to be a precise, joyful, pure and terroir driven expression of each varietal.
I was utterly happy to taste all San Barnaba 2023s in July - together with Bob, Gio, Cisky & my friend Paolo Rossetti - right in their yard with a truly amazing view over the hills.
The Pelaverga 2023 is literally shining in the glass and blossoms more and more as it gets some air. A wine to jump in. Highly fragrant, crisp, expressive and firing all Pelaverga cylinders – it possesses an immense fleshy fruitiness with sappy red cherry and pressed red/purplish blossoms, while the trademark red spicyness adds nuance, in a very subtle, caressing way. Fresh, racy and overall purely joyful - this is a really beautiful Pelaverga. At the moment the grapes are “negoce” from Verduno, in future newly planted parcels (own property) will be the source.
The Freisa 2023 emerges from vineyards in Santo Stefano Belbo: Camo (high altitude) and Validivilla. It was made with whole clusters in 2023 (from 2024 on regularly destemmed); very vibrant, energetic and showing gracious austerity and substance. Flavors of damson, wild cherry, dark stone and herb arise as the wine evolves in the glass. It benefits a lot from air. A particular, cogent Freisa.
The Langhe Nebbiolo 2023 is that kind of Nebbiolo that gives me a huge, radiant inner smile. I will taste another bottle very soon and post a more thorough TN. It’s a Nebbiolo with a shining fruit core (strawberry, juicy red currant, rosa canina), alluring, precise and with the right youthful thrust of silky tannins. Born in a vineyard in the ‘Cars’ MGA (near ‘Faset’) in Barbaresco.
FYI: Two other - estate-owned - vineyards in Castagnito (planted recently) & Corneliano d’Alba (old vineyard) and a dollop of their leased vigna in the MGA ‘Serra’ will bring more Nebbiolo fruit in the future.
The Derthona 2023 (Timorasso from Monleale) is young and lively, still a tad sharp, but it shows already its tempting “to become” character. Great acidity, tangy minerals, white & yellow florals and a beguiling salinity on the mid palate linger and convince. Pure freshness (12.5%) with layers. I’ll come back at this at the moment of release in spring 2025.
For all wines there are no added yeasts, no temperature control, no filtration, no clarification and low use of SO2. The vinification takes place in wood for 20-30 days, for the Nebbiolo and Barolos longer. In the cellar there are only cement containers and barrels (for the fermentation: tine of French oak, for the aging botti grandi of Slavonian oak), no steel. Cement is used for the aging (up to appr. six months) of the Pelaverga, Freisa and Timorasso, while the Nebbiolo based wines make their individual passage in cask.
And last but not least: in 2024 (even though it was not an easy vintage) 2 Barolos are born, from quite different zones and sites: ‘Serra’ and ‘Monvigliero’. I can’t wait to see them grow and have a first taste at the given time. Making a salto in the ‘Serra’ vineyard with Bob gave me already a good first idea of the quality of this place. However, stay tuned for more details and info.
