We visited the Cantina Sociale in Govone on 19 February 2012. By appearances, this is a modern facility selling a number of different wines produced in the Govone area both in bottles and bulk.
Since we write about Nebbiolo, Barolo and Barbaresco, we chose to taste only those. All wines were opened for us, a maximum of five minutes before tasting.
The Cantina has a number of Nebbiolos so the person doing the pouring gave us what they consider their best, the Terre Sabaude.
The Terre Sabaude Nebbiolo was 2009, 14% alcohol. It had a fairly good nose but was quite light in the mouth exhibiting only the grape. We did not discern any tannin or acid that would balance the wine for further aging.
The DOCG Barbaresco was 2006, 13.5% alcohol. This had a good nose of the grape, was very nice in the mouth and what we considered to be a short period to rest in the cellar. We will try it again in December, 2012. It was also of very reasonable price. The wine was purchased for our cellar.
The DOCG Barolo was the last offering. 2006, 13.5% alcohol. The mouth was dominated by acid, with the fruit barely evident in the nose and mouth.
4 October 2012 For the two year anniversary of Natalya's arrival in Italy, we opened a bottle of the 2006 Barbaresco. It took a time to open up dictating that the bottle be opened a hour before drinking. We will also leave the last of the bottles in the cantina for an additional year. This is a very good Barbaresco. We enjoyed it as it opened up in the glass. This morning, we went to the cantina to see if we could get another six bottles but it has sold out. The 2007 Barbaresco was tried but seems to have something about it that does not seem like it should have been placed on sale. We recommend caution in purchasing this wine.
