2020 Barbaresco Basarin

With fruit from the village of Neive, the 2020 Barbaresco Basarin is a generous and fleshed-out wine with soft fruit tones and plenty of bold cherry. Sottimano Maggiore likes to work with ambient yeasts and submerged cap. This is a fruit-forward Nebbiolo from a warm vintage. It shows above average concentration, but not by much, and feels quite smooth and supple to the palate. Production is 9,000 bottles.

Neive. Just mid ruby. A gorgeous nose of savoury oak, morocco leather and still-subdued cherry fruit spiked with minerally hints. Concentrated and deep cherry and raspberry fruit on the palate, lined with coating tannins and lush acidity. Can be approached now, even if the tannins demand more time. (WS)

A generous sweet perfume of pressed violets, ripe cherry, cinnamon, and incense emerges from the 2020 Barbaresco Basarin. The tannins are more giving here, and its fruit expands through the palate, with refreshing acidity and wonderful balance and purity. It is drinking well now and will continue to improve over the coming 10-15 years. Sottimano is located in Barbaresco, with holdings in the five crus of Basarin, Curra, Fausoni, Cotta, and Pajore. The estate was founded in the late 1960s by Rino Sottimano and is today led by the entire family, Andrea, Elena, and Claudia. They do not used any herbicides or pesticides in the vineyard, and they only use minimal sulfur additions at bottling. Fermentation is carried out in wood, of which approximately 30% is new, and aging is in neutral barriques for 18-20 months.