2021 Barbaresco, Recta Pete, Fletcher, Piedmont, Italy

Nebbiolo is the grape behind the Barolo and Barbaresco wines and is hardly ever seen outside the confines of Piedmont. It takes its name from "nebbia" which is Italian for fog, a frequent phenomenon in the region.

The Piedmontese DOCG zone of Barbaresco is responsible for some of Italy’s finest wines. It occupies the same region and uses the same grape (Nebbiolo) as Barolo, but is a third of the size (only 640 hectares versus Barolo’s 1,700 hectares). It is also 50 years younger, having produced wine labelled Barbaresco since 1890. It earned its DOCG in 1980, largely thanks to the efforts of Angelo Gaja.

An Australian winemaker living in Piedmont? Dave Fletcher has been entranced by Nebbiolo since he first tasted Barolo in Australia in 2004. He landed a stage at Ceretto in 2007, joining as their winemaker in 2012. He guided them towards a less oak-dependent style, in favour of finesse and subtlety. He started to make wines under his own label in Barbaresco from the ’09 vintage. In 2014, he and his wife Eleanor bought the old Barbaresco stationmaster’s house in an auction, consequently laying roots in the region. Situated at the foot of the Martinenga vineyard, close to the great Asili site, the rather dilapidated building came with barrel-vaulted brick cellars under the house. Its restoration continues but its facilities have proved ideal for Dave and the scale of his operation.