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2017 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

January 22, 2023 - $36

Estimate

RATINGS

96Jeb Dunnuck

...smoky, with notes of licorice, red plum, and stony earth. Generous fresh cherry fruit fills the palate up front, with dried bitter herbs and saline minerality. It has an elegant structure and a streamlined mouthfeel, with fine tannins and freshness on the finish.

92Vinous / IWC

...very pretty and expressive wine. Blood orange, cedar, mint, sweet red cherry and licorice are all layered together. Medium in body, with terrific depth...understated, classy and polished to the core.

91The Wine Advocate

...offers tart fruit aromas of white cherry, red currant and blue flower. There are pretty dustings of crushed stone, light smoke and camphor ash. This is a lean and silky wine that offers a streamlined mouthfeel framed by linear and powdery tannins.

17Jancis Robinson

Savoury cherry fruit with a hint of cumin and raw meat. Succulent acidity that is a little mouth-watering, and ripe, coating tannins. Generous fruit on the finish, while the salty, saffron hints provide a minerally edge.

REGION

Italy, Piedmont, Barbaresco

Barbaresco is one of the two most acclaimed DOCGs in Piedmont, the other being Barolo. Located just a few miles north of Barolo, Barbaresco is a small town of fewer than 700 people and 1,680 vineyard acres, making it less than half the size of the Barolo DOCG. The other communes in this DOCG of rolling hills are Neive and Treiso. As in Barolo, the DOCG requires that Barbaresco DOCG wines be 100% Nebbiolo, a grape thought of as the Pinot Noir of Italy. Records show that Nebbiolo was grown in the Piedmont as early as the 14th century, and despite being somewhat finicky – it is late to ripen and easily damaged by adverse weather --- Nebbiolo makes highly aromatic and powerful red wines. Until the mid-19th century Nebbiolos of Piedmont were vinified as sweet wines, though that ended in the late 19th century when a French oenologist was invited to Piedmont to show producers how to make dry reds. By the late 20th century respected producers were making outstanding Nebbiolos, as well as Nebbiolo blends that do not carry the DOCG label. Barbaresco was made a DOC in 1966 and upgraded to a DCOG in 1980. DOCG Barbaresco must be aged a minimum of two years, with a minimum of one year in wood. Barbarescos are regarded as more subtle and refined than Barolos, and more approachable when young.

TYPE

Red Wine, Nebbiolo, D.O.C.G.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.