2011 La Ca’ Növa, Barbaresco, Montefico, Vigna Bric Mentina (RT94) This 2011 is now in its early, peak tertiary drinking window and is ready for optimal enjoyment. Overall, this is a leanly styled Barbaresco built taut and precise and showing its terroir with finely focused fruit. Revealing a medium garnet cast, the bouquet wafts up highly mentholated notes of Morello cherry liqueur, aromatic cedar chest, dried florals, chalk dust, dried herbs and truffled earth. The palate is nervous and somewhat rustic with high toned fruit and vibrant acidity while the tannins remain firm, although the edges are now rounded off. This will hold in its current drinking window for at least another decade, perhaps longer, but the vintage isn’t for mench mark cellaring, so I wouldn’t push it too long. Drink now-2036+ Tasted November 2025
The La Ca’ Növa winery, established in 1995, is positioned between the Montestefano and Montefico Cru vineyards, immediately on the outskirts of the village of Barbaresco. The house style leans toward tradition with just a smattering of modernist polish to them. They currently produce three Barbaresco’s: a Classico blended from different vineyards, and two single vineyards, a Montestefano and a Montefico, labeled Vigna Bric Mentina, which is named in memory of the owner, Marco Rocca’s grandmother, Clementina. This winery practices organic farming. Their wines undergo reasonably lengthy time of skin contact – +/- 25 days – and are then aged in medium-large neutral botti for 20 months. Readers who enjoy powerful, classically built Barbarescos will adore the 2011s from La Ca’ Nova, one of Piedmont’s under the radar producers.
