Giuseppe Cortese Rabaja Barbaresco 2018
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Winemaker Notes
This Barbaresco stands out for its harmonious, well-balanced expression, with a luscious floral-scented bouquet, magisterial structure, and lingering taste. At once crisp and elegant, with a succulent mouthfeelthis superb classic lends itself to immediate enjoyment or to medium/long-term cellaring.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant and loaded with finesse, this stunner opens with enticing scents of rose, violet, perfumed berry and camphor. Smooth and extremely elegant, the vibrant, savory palate features juicy red cherry, blood orange and crushed raspberry while star anise and mineral notes suggesting rusty nail—and that's a good thing—add depth. Bright acidity and lithe tannins lend balance and seamless support. It's all about elegance and energy. Best after 2023. Editors' Choice
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James Suckling
Already exuding complexity on the nose. The red fruit is colored with a variety of nuances, from dry earth and mild spice to flower petals and light citrus notes. Medium-bodied with well-integrated tannins that sink into the fruit mid palate but re-emerge right at the end to give a firm finish. Despite that, the fruit drive is relentless. Needs time to even out. It will gain more breadth, too. Exceptional Barbaresco that highlights the excellence of the terroir here.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Giuseppe Cortese's 2018 Barbaresco Rabajà is fresh and vibrant with a tonic, almost electric personality. The wine shows the kind of freshness you get from mineral-rich soils that translate to both the bouquet and the palate. There are points of sour cherry and bramble with rusty nail and some tart orange zest. This release of 17,000 bottles is probably the most successful wine from this estate that I have reviewed over the years.
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Vinous
The 2018 Barbaresco Rabajà expresses all of its classicism and nuance in ethereal, nervy style that is going to need at least a few years in bottle to unwind. Readers will notice a Rabajà that is more finesse than muscle, the direction these wines have trended in over the last few years. Sage, mint, tobacco, licorice and incense are laced into the resonant finish.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe cherry and strawberry fruit marks this light-bodied red. Picks up notes of earth, tar and white pepper, leaving a tangy feel on the lingering aftertaste.
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From its 8 hectares of vineyards located in the middle of “Rabajà”, a historical cru in the Barbaresco area, Azienda Agricola Giuseppe Cortese vinifies and produces high quality wines from three generations .The Rabaja’ cru enjoys southwesterly exposure and the very best in terms of microclimate, soil and ripening, creating a product which comprises all the characteristics of a great wine.
Azienda Agricola Cortese wines are produced according to winemaking tradition using the latest technology: wines aged in Slavonian oak, wines stored in underground cellars at perfectly suitable temperatures in order to maintain the aroma and taste that characterise top quality products.
Recently the family has also opened a panoramic bed & breakfast nestled among the vineyards, these one offers one of the most striking views of the Rabajà.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighboring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio.
Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.