2019 Barbaresco Rabaja
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The Bruno Rocca 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is gorgeous. Where do I start? There is a smoky fireplace-like element that I don't get in the Currá. It leans into ashy mineral or spent ember. It's just a hint, but it's enough to give this wine unique definition. At the back, there's plenty of dark fruit and pressed flower. But the Rabajà ultimately is defined by its terroir-driven minerality, which is more savory and salty than it is chalky. This cru is located in the village of Barbaresco with vines planted in the 1950s based on a massal selection. The soils are especially rich in limestone. Production is limited to 1,100 precious bottles.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà shows more heft and concentration next to the Currà. The site has white and gray marl soils. This wine reveals a beautiful bouquet with dark currant, plum, iron ore and evident spice with hints of tobacco leaf. You also detect a hint of white pepper. This more robust style gives Rabajà bigger pairing potential with meat dishes and some of the traditional wintery foods of Piedmont, like stracotto di Fassona (braised beef). Production is 6,000 bottles.
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is another captivating wine in this range from the Rocca family. Bright and vibrant the 2019 possesses terrific energy from start to finish. This tense, nervy Riserva is going to need a few years to be at its finest. Then again, it is Rabajà. Like the best Rabajàs, the 2019 needs time to come together. Bright red fruit, cedar, tobacco, spice and vibrant saline notes race across the palate and onto the nervy, crystalline finish. What a beautiful wine this is.
Barbaresco. A shade more developed than Currà and with a bricky rim. Multilayered, lifted cranberry and sour-cherry nose with hints of liquorice and a peppery tingle. Gorgeous gravelly tannins supporting sour-cherry and raspberry fruit. Also a little more punch and depth on the palate than Currà and a little finer. While Currà is well balanced, this is well balanced as well as integrated. (WS)