Winemaker Notes
The nose reveals a concentration of aromas of fruits of the forest, red and black berries, enveloped in balsamic and menthol notes. These expressions are echoed on the palate, wrapped in thick tannins and characterized by a delicious youthful finish. Elegant and classic, with a good tannic structure that merges well with its delicate fruitiness. It is a wine with a strong presence in the mouth, with a concentration that reveals density and structure.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Enticing aromas of rose, iris, culinary spice and botanical herb take shape in the glass along with whiffs of crushed berry on this fragrant red. The focused, linear palate is still tightly wound and austere, offering juicy red cherry, star anise and thyme set against bright acidity and firm, close-grained tannins. It's loaded with nervous energy and needs time but already shows great class. Drink 2029–2044.
Cellar Selection -
Wine & Spirits
Fausoni is the most structured and savory of Sottimano’s 2019 Barbarescos, its dark cherry flavors gripped by meaty tannins and layered with hints of sundried tomato and dried herbs. Floral scents emerge with exposure to air, but this is a wine that will benefit from a few years of cellaring to show its true potential.
-
Wine Spectator
A rich and round style, this red boasts plum, cherry and black currant flavors, with accents of earth, iron and menthol. Well put-together, even if the tannins are dense and assertive on the finish. Delivers earth and spice notes that linger. Best from 2025.
-
James Suckling
Complex aromas of dried flowers with red fruit and orange peel. Some white truffle, too,as well as hazelnut. Medium-bodied with a solid core of slightly chewy tannins and a flavorful yet focused finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Barbaresco Fausoni is a little more open and immediate compared to the other new releases in this portfolio of excellent wines. The bouquet is redolent of dried raspberry, cherry, sweet soil and candied lilac.
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.