Roagna Barbaresco Asili Vecchie Viti 2016
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Winery: Roagna
Vintage: 2016
Grape: Nebbiolo
Drinking window: 2025 - 2040
Region: Piedmont
Production: 1100 bottles
THE ITALIAN GRAPE (97)
I am super impressed by the Roagna Barbaresco Asili Vecchie Viti 2016. This wine shows great elegance and balance. The fruit is soft and fresh, with gentle tannins that make it smooth to drink. It has beautiful flavors of cherries, roses, and a little spice. The wine feels light but has a good body and structure, showing the quality of old vines. It’s a perfect example of a fine Barbaresco that is both delicate and complex. You can enjoy it now, but it will get way better if you keep it for at least 5 more years.
ROBERT PARKER (97)
WINE ENTHUSIAST (99)
Enticing scents of fragrant blue flower, perfumed berry, new leather and camphor slowly take shape on this focused, fantastic red. Smooth, elegantly structured and savory, the palate boasts an understated finesse, delivering juicy strawberry, cranberry, star anise and an almost salty mineral note framed in taut, fine-grained tannins. Bright acidity keeps it well-balanced and gives it great aging potential.
About the wine
Roagna is a family-owned winery located in Barbaresco, Piedmont, with a history dating back to the late 1800s. Today, the estate is run by Luca Roagna, the fifth generation of the family, who continues the traditional winemaking practices started by his ancestors. The estate covers about 15 hectares across Barbaresco and Barolo, including prized vineyards like Pajè and Pira. Their wines undergo long maceration periods and mature for several years in large oak barrels without filtration or fining. Known for their depth, structure, and elegance, Roagna wines like Crichët Pajè, Pajè Vecchie Viti, Montefico, and Asili are built to age gracefully and develop complexity over time. The winery’s approach to viticulture emphasizes respect for nature, promoting biodiversity and avoiding herbicides in the vineyards.
Asili is a very prestigious vineyard known for producing elegant wines. The wines from here have gentle tannins and delicate fruit flavors. In short, this Barbaresco is all about finesse and elegance. In this historic cru, the winery owns less than a quarter of a hectare. The vines are at least 50 years old and all come from massal selection (not clones). They make a very small amount of wine here, and it is truly exceptional — full-bodied, complex, yet incredibly elegant. This bottle also has excellent aging potential.
The 2016 vintage in Barbaresco is widely regarded as one of the finest in recent memory. Ideal weather conditions throughout the growing season, marked by mild temperatures, low humidity, and timely rainfall. This allowed Nebbiolo grapes to reach perfect ripeness, resulting in wines of exceptional aromatic intensity and structure. The late harvest in October further enhanced the depth and complexity of the wines. Critics have lauded the 2016 Barbarescos for their purity, balance, and aging potential, with many considering it a vintage of a lifetime. The Asili Vecchie Viti is fermented only in wooden vats using natural yeasts, a process that takes about 10 days. After that, it goes through an old technique called submerged cap maceration, which lasts for 2 months. Finally, the wine is aged for about 5 years in neutral oak barrels.
