Barbera d'Asti "Montruc", Franco Martinetti - 1999

Name: Barbera d'Asti "Montruc", Franco Martinetti
Brand: Franco Martinetti
SKU: 19173
Price: 81.96 USD
Availability: InStock

Item # 19173 750mL

Montruc is a serious Barbera that's judiciously oak-aged and can withstand the test of time in the cellar. Rich in body and yet lithe in character, this is a rare find from a formidable vintage in Piedmont.

$81.96/ Single Bottle

$983.52 $885.17/ Case of 12

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Color

Red

Vintage

1999

Country

Italy

Region

Piedmont

Sub-Region

Asti

Producer

Franco Martinetti

Grape Variety

Barbera

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Staff Pick Notes

Barbera is a wine that is so approachable in its youth its easy to forget how well it can age. All that naturally high acidity, however, means it has the potential to evolve beautifully for a couple of decades. Franco Martinetti firms up the tannins by aging in oak barrels, and the results are nothing less delicious. Even with 15 years of age, this bottle has plenty of life ahead. If you drink now, decant and let it open it up for an hour. You'll be rewarded with beautiful scents of raspberry, black cherry, dried leaves and milk chocolate. It's a rich, powerful wine, but all that acidity keeps things lively and fresh. A great match with steak or meaty ragus.

- ALM

Glossary

Piedmont

The most famous grape in Piedmont is the noble Nebbiolo, which makes the long-lived Barolo and Barbaresco. There are plenty of Nebbiolo-based wines that are quite enjoyable in their youth, however, often produced in smaller, lesser-known regions such as Ghemme or Gattinara. Several other Piedmontese grapes make striking and delicious wines: Pelaverga produces light-colored reds with distinctive notes of strawberry, cherry, and pink peppercorn. The red Freisa is vinified in a variety of styles:...

Barbera

Barbera is grown all over Italy, but the best examples of this red grape come from Piedmont, where it is made into all manner of wines - from easy-drinking quaffers to serious, cellar-worthy bottlings. Wherever they fall on the spectrum of stodginess, however, they are generally ruby-colored, full-bodied, and highly acidic, with remarkably low levels of tannins. The areas that are most strongly associated with Barbera (for good reason) are the Alba and Asti DOCs, which consistently produce...