Malcolm Jolley finds out the story behind a great value Barbaresco…

Andrea Pace is the Mexico City based export manager for the Americas for the Castello di Neive winery in Piedmont. I got in touch with him recently when I saw that the Castello di Neive Barbaresco 2017 ($29.95 | LCBO# 160143) was in the last Vintages LCBO release for under $30. It’s a great wine from a year that was difficult to make wine in Italy but is ultimately proving to be successful, and the Castello di Neive Barbaresco stands up on its own merits with pure dark red to black fruit, firm by smooth structure and food friendly acidity. But what I wanted to know was why it was priced so aggresively, when the Castello’s single vineyard Barberesco’s go for more than double what’s being charged for this wine. I caught up with Andrea this week on Zoon to record the interview below, in which we discuss the wine and how things are going in Barberesco in these pandemic times.