Sottimano - Barbaresco DOCG - Cottá - Rouge - 2018

Wine:

Rated 98/100 by the Committee, the 2018 red Barbaresco Cotta is a pinnacle of the appellation and vintage. From the clay-limestone terroir of Neive, it offers a perfect infusion of red fruits, with notes of thyme, bay leaf, oregano, and a touch of balsamic; it's a true infusion of ripe yet fresh nebiollo. The palate is both powerful and perfumed, with present tannins and an enchanting array of red pit fruits under perfectly managed oak. This is a wine for the ages, where the delicacy of the Nebbiolo unfurls a silky, perfumed, and persistent fruit right through to the licorice finish. It can be decanted or served in a large glass to aerate it well. It can be enjoyed today but has a high aging potential, and its freshness will take it far into the future, ten to twenty years without any problem.

Vinification:

Hand harvested. Aged for around 24 months, most of it on the lees, in barrels from the François Frères cooperage in Burgundy.

Color:

Medium garnet red, intense and brilliant.

Nose:

A perfect infusion of red fruit with notes of thyme, bay leaf, oregano and a touch of balsamic on a clean, ripe, fresh nebbiolo.

Palate:

Powerful and fragrant, the palate reveals delicate tannins, a full panel of perfectly ripe red fruits and a luxurious, integrated woodiness. The finish transports us to liquorice-like flavors of zan.

Temperature:

Decant before serving, between 16 and 18°C.

Food and wine pairing:

Veal involtini, stuffed porcini mushrooms and full-bodied gravy, roasted filet mignon.

Cellar aging:

From now until 2040

Guided by an unwavering quest for excellence, Andrea Sottimano produces wines of masterful finesse in Piedmont that are capable of standing the test of time. These providential red wines, full-bodied and sincere, reveal the character of the finest Italian wines, especially those from Barbaresco.

Andrea Sottimano admits that he doesn't speak French very well, but he does speak fluent Burgundian! 

In his Barbaresco wines, he expresses with talent this ultimate research to accompany his Nebbiolo to offer him the brightness, the fineness of fruit and the energy which characterize the greatest wines of Burgundy which he cherishes so much!