The world premiere of Barolo 2016 and Barbaresco 2017

New York City hosted the first edition of the BBWO, a two-day event conceived with the idea of introducing (and judging) the two great reds of the Langa. 

Flying to New York for the preview of the new vintages of Barolo 2016 and Barbaresco 2017? Done. The occasion was the Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening 2020, an event organized by the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani on February 4 and 5.

To be fussy, there had been a premiere in Piedmont at the end of January, but this in NYC was the event on which the Consortium aimed to promote itself worldwide. Because, as we all know, New York is the center of the world, especially for wines that sell over a third of their bottles in the United States. 

The event was articulated in different moments: on the first day a walk around tasting, that is to say a tasting where the producers were present at the stalls to let the guests taste their wines, while they could chose where to go and what to taste. The press and trade operators (importers, distributors, wine merchants, restaurateurs, sommeliers, Master of Wine...) were invited and more than a thousand people attended. In the final three hours, the entrance was open to the paying public (100 dollars per person), who showed that they liked the idea very much, queuing outside for access. After all, the event had been enticed by the billboards that the Consortium had set up in Times Square. The tasting was centered on the MGA, the additional geographical mentions of the two denominations, which were also explained during two seminars held by journalist Alessandro Masnaghetti.

The second day was reserved for the international jury, composed mainly of Master of Wine and journalists, called to give a blind judgment on the two upcoming vintages: 2016 for Barolo and 2017 for Barbaresco. The results were announced during a gala dinner held in Eataly, in the heart of the World Trade Center. The results obtained by the two wines were stratospheric, but - the president of the Consortium, Matteo Ascheri, said - the score was the result not only of the tasting carried out by the jury, but also of technical evaluations related to the climatic trend of the vintages and the evaluations of local producers and oenologists. They must have been really enthusiastic, given the scores communicated. Barolo 2016 was awarded an incredible 99.3 while Barbaresco 2017 scored 98.1 points. We do not know what calculation led to these final "averages", but - although the 2016 vintage is undoubtedly an excellent vintage for Barolo - the judgment seems a bit too generous and this is all the more true for Barbaresco 2017, which in some cases suffered from an excessively hot and dry climate.

Along with the numbers relating to the score, other interesting numbers were also given, those concerning the production. Altogether, since the beginning of 2020, 14,039,461 bottles of Barolo 2016 have been put on the market, while for Barbaresco 2017 there are 4,213,585 and, between the two wines, a total of 3 million and 600 thousand bottles have already been sold int these first weeks. A reassuring debut, especially in view of the uncertainty of the US duties.

When questioned, President Ascheri simply said that the Langa producers have always invested in the United States and are continuing to do so, as demonstrated over the past two days. The hope is that they will be allowed to invest in the future as well... Understandably: as long as they are not forced to lower their prices in order not to go out of the market if 100% duties are imposed.

In the photos, from the top: a moment of tasting, the line of the public at the entrance of the Center 415 in Manhattan, the two billboards in Times Square, the video screenshots of the scores awarded to Barolo2016 and Barbaresco 2017 and finally the President of the Consortium Matteo Ascheri.