De Forville, Barbaresco DOCG 2022

If there were such a thing as a Wine Value Hall of Fame, De Forville’s Barbaresco would already have a corner table reserved—quietly, without ceremony. Year after year, this humble family estate bottles Barbaresco so pure, so steadfastly traditional, that it feels almost defiant in a region that has modernized. Finding Barbaresco this honest at about $40 is nearly impossible, but De Forville somehow keeps doing it. Their wines taste like they come from another time—before modern barriques, before trends—just Nebbiolo, patience, and the hills that raised it.

The story begins in 1848, when the De Forville family left Belgium for the rolling hills of Piedmont. By 1860, they had settled in the village of Barbaresco, planting Nebbiolo vines on pale, calcareous soils that glow pink in the evening sunset light. Generation followed generation—Gioacchino, Vincenzo, Paolo, Mafalda, and finally Bruno Anfosso—each tending the same slopes. Today, brothers Valter and Paolo Anfosso carry the torch, farming eleven hectares divided between Barbaresco and nearby Castagnole Lanze. Just across the street from Gaja, their modest cantina sits in the heart of the village with a simple wooden door and a small, unassuming sign. Their main holdings in Barbaresco lie in the famed crus of Rabajà, Loreto, and Pozzo, a patchwork of sun-soaked vineyards cascading toward the Tanaro River.

Barbaresco can only be born within the boundaries of three small villages—Barbaresco, Treiso, and Neive—and the narrow ring of surrounding vines that trace the Tanaro River. Twenty million years ago, this land lay beneath the Ligurian Sea; as the waters receded, layers of marine sandstone, limestone, and calcareous marl were left behind, giving these wines their unmistakable perfume and mineral lift. The Barbaresco DOCG demands patience—by law, each wine must age a minimum of 26 months before release, with at least 9 months in wood; for Riserva, it stretches to 50 months. At De Forville, every bunch is harvested by hand, then fermented on the skins for up to four weeks before being transferred to enormous, neutral oak botti grandi—some holding more than 5,000 liters—where the wine rests for two years. There are no shortcuts, no small-barrel makeup—only time and gravity. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally in cask, and the wine is bottled unfiltered. This is winemaking as it once was: patient, transparent, and deeply rooted in place.

The 2022 Barbaresco is a study in elegance and restraint—rose petals and sour cherry, a touch of black truffle, fennel, and sweet tar, the scent of warm earth after rain. The tannins are firm yet fine-grained and dusty, carrying the wine through a long, savory finish. Decant for an hour if you can; it will bloom with air in large Burgundy stems, its fruit turning darker and more complex with time. Pair it with Tajarin pasta in rich ragù, braised veal shank, or porcini risotto—anything simple, earthy, and deserving of your full attention.