Piedmont, Italy
Aves Barbera d'Alba
| SKU (BC) | 628602 |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Piedmont |
| Type | Red |
| Varietal | Barbera |
| Listing (BC) | Speculative |
| Case Config. | 12x750ml |
| Available In | BC |
Colour
Deep garnet red.
Aroma
Dark red fruits on the nose, complimented by savoury notes.
Flavour
A cool refreshing Barbera with a very complex mid palate with great intensity; dark fruit, licorice, mineral, and savoury elements, excellent length.
Food Pairing
Smoked pork shoulder, port roast and stir-fry beef.
More Info
Burlotto's winemaker, Fabio Alessandria, doesn't just make great Barolo, he makes great everything. Apart from his majestic Barolos, his special Barbera cuvée "Aves" has consistently been one of his most impressive wines. Aves is also one of his greatest bargains.
Production of Burlotto's top Barbera is small. Made with 100% estate fruit, Fabio works with just two parcels of very old Barbera vines, in Verduno's Neirane cru and in Castagna. Vinified with 50% whole clusters, the fermentation is done with wild yeast and the wine ages in 500L barrels.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Apr/2024
2022 -
"The Comm. G.B. Burlotto 2022 Barbera d'Alba Aves is elegant and contained (despite a high 15% alcohol content) with floral aromas, cherry and the pithiness of a pomelo fruit. The palate is treated to layers of light spice from the skins with subtle minerality as well. It's all beautifully put together, incredibly silky and fine, but it also shows tension and energy. This wine is all about the high tones. Some 8,000 bottles were made."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Nov/2023
2022 -
"The 2022 Barbera d'Alba Aves, Burlotto's top Barbera, is a rich, heady wine. Succulent dark cherry, plum, licorice, cloves and lavender open nicely. Medium in body and racy, with gorgeous texture, the 2022 is impeccably balanced. It spent 10 months in 500L barrels, then 2 months in cask prior to bottling."
Jeb Dunnuck, May/2024
2022 -
"A bright but slightly deeper ruby color, the 2022 Barbera D'Alba is lifted with peppery freshness and crisp red and black berries. Offering a snappy nature and good structure, it takes things up a notch in overall quality and can stand up to a variety of cuisines. With its crunchy fruit and fresh structure, I love where this is now, and it’s going to be very nice over the next several years as well."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Aug/2023
2021 -
"This wine represents a selection of fruit from the oldest vines. It is not labeled Superiore, but it could be technically, given its winemaking and release time. The 2021 Barbera d'Alba Aves shows layers of dark fruit, blackberry preserves and plum. It delivers high acidity with freshness that is balanced against concentrated fruit. As a result, this vintage feels especially crunchy in texture."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Nov/2022
2021 -
"The 2021 Barbera d'Alba Aves is a selection of the estate's best Barbera. A wine of gravitas and tension, the Aves is lights-out in 2021. There's plenty of the depth of past editions, but less overt concentration and oak imprint than in the past. In the last few years, Fabio Alessandria has dialed back some of the textural intensity in this wine in favor of greater freshness. The result is a striking Barbera that is also more in line with the rest of the wines in the range."
Jeb Dunnuck, Apr/2023
2021 -
"Pouring a bit more in the purple range of the spectrum and from a single tonneau, the 2021 Barbera D'Alba Aves (“aves” means birds in Latin) has more peppery spice, violets, and wet stone. It is medium-bodied but takes on more concentration and richness, with meaty black cherry, turned soil, and tea leaf notes. It also has fine tannins and a good finish. This will be an age-worthy wine for drinking over the next ten years."
Wine Spectator, Feb/2024
2021 -
"A compact red overall, with the oak lending a milk chocolate feel. Boasts blackberry, boysenberry and blueberry fruit that takes center stage, while the spicy finish is a bit compressed. Drink now through 2030. 650 cases made."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jun/2022
2020 -
"The Comm. G.B. Burlotto 2020 Barbera d'Alba Aves is darkly saturated and medium in texture with sweet cherry and shadings of crushed aspirin, wild cherry and pungent red rose. The heat of the vintage has ratcheted up those aromas of black olive, earth and candied licorice. There's a lot going on in the glass."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Nov/2021
2020 -
"The 2020 Barbera d'Alba Aves is a gorgeous wine. Over the last few years, Fabio Alessandria has dialed back the overtness in the Aves, which yields a much more refined wine than in the past. In 2020, the Aves is especially restrained and also not that far stylistically than the straight Barbera. I would drink it over the next few years, while the fruit is vibrant. The Aves is a selection of fruit from vineyards in Verduno and Roddi. It sees about ten months in 500L barrels, including some acacia in the mix. This super-classic Barbera is a jewel of a wine."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Sep/2021
2018 -
"The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Aves is a wonderfully sensual wine. Succulent dark cherry, spice, leather and plum all build nicely in the glass. In 2018, the Aves is not quite as rich as it has been in some years, but that is not a bad thing. If anything it vies the Aves closer to the other wines. Stylistically it has been a bit of an outlier."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Mar/2020
2017 -
"The 2017 Barbera d'Alba Aves is another attractive wine in this range, although the greater impact of small wood does place it entirely in a different stylistic context relative to the other wines in this range. Black cherry, chocolate, spice, licorice and new leather infuse the 2017 with notable plushness and textural depth."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, May/2019
2016 -
"The 2016 Barbera d'Alba Aves is superb. Rich, dense and concentrated, the 2016 also has more than enough structure to balance the wine's more overt leanings. A rush of red cherry jam, blood orange, mint, dried flowers and menthol builds into the potent, super-rich finish. What a gorgeous wine this is."
Wine Spectator, Apr/2018
2016 -
"A pure, fruity style, offering pomegranate, plum and black currant flavors, shaded by vanilla and toast accents. Despite the silky texture, firm tannins hold court on the finish. Drink now through 2024. 660 cases made."
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Aug/2017
2015 -
"This is a fantastic expression of Barbera from a warm and sunny vintage. The 2015 Barbera d'Alba Aves is a tad more powerful than many of its peers (with 15% alcohol), but it also offers a generous flow of succulent cherry and blackberry. The wine exhibits thick color and consistency with balanced acidity and a cheerful point of sweetness. Some 8,000 bottles were produced."
Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Dec/2015
2013 -
"The old-vine 2013 Barbera d'Alba Aves is vinified along the same lines as the straight Barbera, but it is aged in a 5HL cask, which, alone with greater vine age, seems to bring out a richer, more overt expression of Barbera. Plum, black cherry incense and licorice open up into the powerful, textured finish. Both 2013 Barberas are striking. I have a slight preference for the straight Barbera."
Snooth.com, Sept/2013
2011 -
"Aged in a 50hl barrrel Woodsy aromas greet the nose where there is a nice base spice tone, a touch of oyster shells, very pretty slow to emerge violet notes and very clear berry fruit. This is rich, broad and broad in the mouth with a nice tang to the acids. the palate shows great cut to the lovely black fruit, clear though broad shouldered in the mouth with some wood tannins on the finish, this is elegant and powerful and probably will be better in a year or two."