Fletcher Barbaresco Starderi 1.5L 2017

Vinification
Starderi is a particularly beautiful site where it is quite warm so David picks the grapes very early, about two weeks before most people start harvesting Nebbiolo. This is to get a little more freshness and elegance out of the grapes. He uses open fermentation vats, which is more common in Burgundy. Only natural fermentation and only natural temperature control of the tanks. Pumping down the grape skins happens once every other day so as not to extract too much. Fermentation varies from 4 to 8 weeks. When there is no sugar taste in the juice and the temperature naturally drops, the wine is transferred to barriques. Barrique barrels are used because the production volumes do not fill a barrel but the barriques used are 10 years old and give off little flavor. The wine matures for two years before being bottled unfiltered.

Tasting notes
When I first started tasting Dave's wine from Starderi Marken, I couldn't help but also taste Olek's Bondonio. After all, I had some from his 2016 vintage lying around and since I had previously visited Olek and interviewed him in Starderi Marken, it was only natural to test both wines together. They were surprisingly similar in color, concentration and taste, but Dave's had somewhat more intensity, acidity and earthy tones, but at the same time a slightly more bitter finish.

Fletcher Starderi has a slightly dense reddish-brown color as a sign of maturity, but the wine is only at the beginning of its approximately 10-year journey. It is somewhat hazy from being unfiltered, on the palate it is ripe, round, with notes of earth, ripe strawberries, cherries and blood orange. The flavors balance nicely against a refreshing acidity that leaves a salty experience of umami, the tannins are medium, tight enough to promise a good development further. There is only a slight touch of oak and finally some dry tannins. It drinks well now, but will benefit from 4-5 more years of maturation to get the best out of the wine. Drink tempered at 16-18º C and preferably with food such as pork loin or wagyu .