Cru Starderi, on clayey marl overlooking the Tanaro. Eighteen months in French oak. Balsamic, spiced and more immediate on the attack than the Gallina — a Barbaresco that shows itself quickly.
Garnet red with a clear, faintly orange rim. The nose is intense and markedly savoury: cherry in its juice, dried herbs, mint and eucalyptus, with tar and leather beneath. That balsamic note is the signature of this site and sets it apart at once from the estate's other cru. On the palate the wine gets going more directly than a Barbaresco of this age often does: the fruit stands up front, the tannin follows taut and dry behind it. The acidity holds everything in balance and draws the finish out long, again with that savoury lift. Decant for an hour and serve at 18 degrees.
Cantina Francone has worked out of Neive, in the heart of Barbaresco, since 1892. Five generations on, Marco and Fabrizio Francone run the family estate, whose reputation rests above all on the Gallina hill: a south-facing cru listed on Renato Ratti's historic map of Barbaresco crus.
Starderi is the second cru in the family's hands. The site looks out over the Tanaro and sits on clayey marl — more retentive than the sandier ground further along, and so a buffer against dry summers.
The slope faces due south. That brings full ripening and a concentration of aroma you recognise in the first glass from its balsamic and savoury tones.
Ageing runs eighteen months in French oak barrels, six months less than for the Gallina. With a vineyard of such marked signature, that is a deliberate restraint.
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