BARBARESCO

2008 Fausoni Sottimano

Grapes Nebbiolo
Colour Red
Origin Italy, Piedmont
Village Barbaresco
ABV 14.5%

Complex, rich and tight, this is wonderful but will need a lot of time to show at its best. L&S (Jun 2011)


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Or, check the RELATED PRODUCTS below for different vintages or wines of a similar style.


A burly red, with dusty, grainy tannins underlying black cherry, licorice and leather flavors. I like its resonance, and there's balance to this in a beefy, no-holds-barred way. Drinking range: 2014 - 2024 Rating: 89 Bruce Sanderson, The Wine Spectator (Jul 2016)

Looks bluer than the Cotta bottling. Simpler, fruitier. Softer. Tannins kick in only on the end. 2014 - 2020. Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Dec 2013)

Their only Barbaresco from a vineyard that has some sand in its composition. Makes it more open and forward, delicate and feminine. At 220 m – quite low. Bright garnet with a bricky colour. Still in an open phase. A little bit herbal, red fruit, orange, roses, even a touch of incense. Just starting to get a slight mushroom note. Really chalky textured tannins giving a firm grip. Elegant aromas. Perfume starting to show on the palate and persisting to a very long finish. Refined but slower to develop. 2013-2025 Rating: 17.5+ Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Oct 2012)

Sottimano

The next generation of Andrea, Elena and Claudia Sottimano are now at the helm here and this exquisite estate continues to make better and better wines - some of the finest in Barbaresco. This sixteen hectare estate is based in the Cotta' region of Barbaresco, and the Sottimano family have over the years bought outstanding vineyards in the 'crus' of Currà, Cottà, Fausoni and Pajore. In the vineyard they work organically and aim to limit yields. The winemaking is as low-intervention as possible, using only natural yeasts and then bottling without filtering or fining. All of these 'crus' are given exactly the same élevage, so as to allow the individual 'terroirs' to express their character. Terroir expression is the target here - and these amazing wines are as much an education as a joy to drink.

There are five different crus - each with very specific attributes where they produce their distinctly different Barbarescos. The latest edition is Basarin, with a mixture of clay, limestone and sand, is at about four hundred metres above sea level. This produces the estate's Langhe Nebbiolo, which is basically 'village Barbaresco', as the vines are very young (10-15 years old). It makes for wines that are always very elegant, refined, tannins are silky and softer, nuanced of spices and herbs (eucalyptus).

Fausoni, on sand and clay, makes wines that are always very elegant - mint, liquorice and little red fruits. This is in the historical part of Neive.

Currà, on clay and limestone, is one of the smallest cru of the whole appellation, wines are always very intense and powerful, hard-bodied and with good tannins. Hints of spices and smoke are characteristics of this area.

Cottà, on limestone with clay is one of the oldest cru in Barbaresco, vines are always very old here (fifty years and older) and the colours are just a little bit lighter than other vineyards (because of the clay), but they have a very distinctive nose of dark fruits and mint, a great elegance and mineral tannins.

Pajore is almost entirely on limestone with just a little clay. This is the highest vineyard of all, at 420 metres above sea level. The vines are very old, and it is always the most mineral and elegant of the four Barbarescos. Limestone brings into the wine a great purity of fruit, a distinctive aroma of spices and tobacco (cigar box) and a very unusual quality of tannins, firm but very mineral.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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