Cantina Pertinace is a cooperative located near the town of Treiso in the Langhe Valley of Piedmont not far from the city of Alba. The Cantina Pertinace cooperative consists of 20 growers who produce a variety of grapes,including Nebbiolo, Barbera, Arneis, and Dolcetto. It has a total of 110 hectares of vineyard under cultivation from which it produces approximately 800,000 bottles/year including 250,000 bottles of Barbaresco.

The winery proudly states that its Barbaresco is produced in the Classic Style using large casks in the ageing process.

A short time ago my friend at wellcomonline.com, Annalisa Chiavazza, arranged a Zoom tasting of Barbaresco wines from Cantina Pertinace after samples were sent to me by the winery.

The tasting was hosted by Cesare Barbero and Elena Oberto from Cantina Pertinace. Cesare is the son of the founder of the cooperative, Mario Barbaro, who formed Cantina Pertinace with 13 original members in 1973. Signor Barbero explained before the actual tasting began that all of Cantina Pertinace’s Barbarescos are made in the same way. Vinification is for 40-60 days in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks during which time there is continual pump-over and a submerged cap. After this, aging is for 18 months in large 50 hl Slavonian oak casks. Thus the difference in these Barbarescos is primarily due to the location of the vineyards and in one case the fact that the grapes for this are a blend of many vineyards in different locations.

We began the Zoom tasting with a 2017 Barbaresco DOCG, a 100% Nebbiolo grape, 14.5% alcohol wine. The Barbaresco was a blend of many different hand picked vineyards in the cooperative. It was garnet in color and featured a complex nose. It finished smooth and long with soft tannins and low acidity. I rated the Barbaresco a 90/91.

The second wine we tasted was a 2017 Barbaresco Marcarini DOCG, a 100% Nebbiolo grape, 14.5% alcohol cru (single vineyard) offering. Hand picked grapes from a 350 ASL southwest facing vineyard were used to produce the Marcarini which was ruby in color and featured a lovely complex nose. It finished very smooth and long with more tannins than the previous Barbaresco. I really liked the Marcarini with its European style elegance and I rated it a 94.

Our final wine was a 2017 Barbaresco Nervo DOCG, another 100% Nebbiolo grape, 14.5% alcohol selection. The Nervo, another cru from a different south facing vineyard, was also produced from hand picked grapes in a limestone soil. It was light ruby in color and had a light fruit nose. It started at mid palate and finished extremely smooth and acidic. I loved this classic example of a big Barbaresco wine and rated it a 95/96. I also believe that it will be even better with some further aging.

The three Barbaresco wines of Cantina Pertinace were really excellent and I highly recommend them. I would also suggest that you decant them at least 45-60 minutes before serving. Cantina Pertinace is imported into the USA by Freixenet Mionetto.

My thanks to Cesare and Elena for their excellent explanation of these wines and I look forward to visiting Cantina Pertinace when it becomes possible again.