2020 Barbaresco Cotta Vigna Brichet

A wine from Sottimano that also draws its fruit from the village of Neive (and Barbaresco, because these 2.8 hectares of vines are on the border), the 2020 Barbaresco Cottá shows an austere character with pronounced rust or iodine aromas that are neatly layered into dark fruit and dried cherry. The wine sports a generous, medium-weight texture that offers a good amount of textural firmness to the palate. Give this pretty wine a little more time to flesh out. 9,000 bottles were produced.

Neive. Just mid ruby with orange tinges. Complex strawberry and cherry nose that is still quite closed and with a touch of savoury oak. Embryonic raspberry fruit with fresh acidity and quite firm, chewy tannins. Great balance. Needs more bottle age. (WS)

Moving to the 2020 Barbaresco Cotta, fantastic mineral-tinged aromas of crushed stones, pencil shavings, and blackberry are followed by a medium-bodied red with a ripe yet linear feel and crunchy red fruits of red plum, orange rind, and clove. I liked this for its more tension-packed and energetic feel and stony texture. Drink 2025-2040. 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.