The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is perhaps the most complete of the 2019 Riservas at this stage. It offers fine depth, plenty of tannin and nascent emerging inner sweetness to tie it all together. A wine of stature and textural depth, the Montestefano is my early favorite in this lineup.

Montestefano's soils also carry a lot of calcium, however, these wines tend to be broader, with better-integrated tannins. The 2019 Montestefano offers a lot of cherry, strawberry and mineral, backed by dense tannins. Somehow, this is gentler than Montefico, with accents of earth and wild herbs on the finish.