2019 BARBARESCO Fausoni Sottimano, Lea & Sandeman

BARBARESCO

2019 Fausoni Sottimano

IN STOCK
Grapes Nebbiolo
Colour Red
Origin Italy, Piedmont
Village Barbaresco
ABV 14%
Vineyard Fausoni

Clay and sandy soils. Light bricky red. Complex aromas of maturing red fruits, sweet cherry – intense and vibrant. More depth and power here than on the Basarin, more firmly structured by the tannins, so it is a little tongue-tied in the mouth and needs time (and definitely food). Yet, even with all this depth of chalky tannins, there's juicy fruit at the core. Fine harmony and length. Power without heaviness. Drinking range: 2025 - 2039 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Jul 2024)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

The 2019 Barbaresco Fausoni is a terrific example of the work that has been done here, especially over the last few years, to give the wines greater finesse. Deeply pitched aromatics meld into a huge core of fruit as this expressive, translucent Barbaresco opens. I admire the delineation and focus here. Bright red-toned fruit, white pepper, mint and chalk abound. There's tremendous purity of fruit here, while the balance is just stunning. Drinking range: 2026 - 2041 Rating: 96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Oct 2022)

A rich and round style, this red boasts plum, cherry and black currant flavors, with accents of earth, iron and menthol. Well put-together, even if the tannins are dense and assertive on the finish. Delivers earth and spice notes that linger. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 94 Bruce Sanderson, The Wine Spectator (Oct 2022)

Complex aromas of dried flowers with red fruit and orange peel. Some white truffle, too,as well as hazelnut. Medium-bodied with a solid core of slightly chewy tannins and a flavorful yet focused finish. Try this after 2025. Drinking range: 2025 - Rating: 93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Oct 2022)

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, Pajore and Basarin. 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.

una selezione BARBARESCO

It is often lazily asserted that if Barolo is the King of Piedmontese wines Barbaresco is the Queen; which can unfairly suggest Barbaresco as the lesser of the two - it certainly isn't - and suggests a more feminine style to Barbaresco - which is rather hard to discern in reality. It is more in the way of a dual monarchy - two Kings, or Queens if you prefer, both can be big, both can be highly seductive. This is the intense and sensual world of Nebbiolo, where solid tannins vie unexpectedly well with delicate fruit, and where age unwinds ever more complex flavours. In this case we have a brace of wines from Cigliuti, wines that are surprisingly open in relative youth but offer much promise for the future; and a trio from the butch solid grippingly tannic world of Sottimano which cry out for a cool dark cellar and some patience.

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