Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 2013

The 2013 Barbaresco Riserva is a cuvée from the oldest southeast-facing plots from the Cottà and Pajorè sites. In 2013, the budding of the vines, which are up to 75 years old, was about two weeks behind the usual average, followed by a wet and cold April and May, until the vines caught up somewhat for flowering. Nevertheless, the vines were unable to fully make up the shortfall over the summer, which is why they hung around until October for full ripeness. Green harvesting and daily, conscientious work in the vineyard were mandatory prerequisites for the best harvest material. From the second half of September, warm days with cool nights continued until the harvest in October and ensured perfect grapes of a classic vintage with powerful, complexly structured wines of intense color with an agile acid arc for the best prospects of further development in the bottle.

The 2013 Barbaresco Riserva was on the skins for 45 days and began to ferment spontaneously, followed by three months of daily pigeage. It underwent malolactic fermentation in large French oak barrels until it was aged in wooden casks of various sizes and only 25% of new wood for 36 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Dark ruby red with garnet reflections.

The 2013 Barbaresco Riserva from Sottimano needs air, an appropriate carafe and patience. And then Ramba Zamba! Ambrosial Nebbiolo nectar first class. The nose is bursting with joie de vivre - plums, black cherries, mulberries and dried figs take over the fruity affairs, while the ethereal department takes care of the spiritual. Bergamot, vetiver and sandalwood, as well as white pepper and floral accents, really hit the spot and unmistakably call for the big, expensive glasses that one so reluctantly polishes. Exactly for this one has the namely.

The fist in the velvet glove strikes already in the Antrunk. The full broadside of exquisite tannins of the finest calibration set the bar directly high, without letting up even a bit. Underpinned with rich, clear-as-a-bell fruit, it is mouth-filling, the tannins fleshy and firm to the bite, you could chew on it for hours. The spice-framed fruit is reminiscent of raw porcini mushroom, white pepper gives it depth with shimmering etherealness and the shapely ripe acidity laces it in the finest twine of the best provenance. All this pulsates with a nonchalance over the palate that it is a pure joy. A Riserva in the best James Bond manner or the Sean Connery memorial Barbaresco.