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Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà 2020

Product information

Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà 2020

Nebbiolo from Piedmont, Italy, Barbaresco

$162

$157ea in any 3+
$152ea in any 6+
Closure: Cork
🍇RABAJÀ RABAJÀ RABAJÀ 🇮🇹

Description

I’ve seen some bolder Barbaresco from 2020. Cortese is fresh and energetic with a clear step up in fruit quality commensurate with the coin. This is so well-balanced and alive. Impressive gear from an estate that just shows so much consistency year after year. The blood orange is there backed by a darker, richer yet still transparent, elegant core of fruit. The dusting of tannin again beautifully weighted with extra depth and length. A sophisticated perfume of violets an just a little spice. This is cracking gear!

Paul Kaan, Wine Decoded Sept 2024

The 2020 Barbaresco Rabajà is a total knock-out. Dark, layered and mysterious, the 2020 is pure seduction. All the elements are so well put together for a young Barbaresco. In 2020 Cortese did not bottle a Riserva, and the addition of that fruit clearly benefits this bottling. Black cherry, kirsch, lavender, spice and dried herbs all build in a super-classic Rabajà that delivers the goods. Don’t miss it.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous 95 Points

KO 97 GW 95+

Only 1 left in stock

Check out all of the wines by Giuseppe Cortese

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

You could call Giuseppe Cortese a one trick pony.

The majority of his Nebbiolo comes from just 1 vineyard

Boy, it’s one hell of a pony – Rabajà.

Traditional version of the great Cru. A wine featuring structure, elegance and a personality of its own.

Barbaresco Rabajà is our most important wine and has an intense and ethereal perfume with fresh notes that evolve into scents of spices, tobacco and brushwood notes as it ages. A dry, full and robust flavour with a rich and harmonious structure; garnet red colour.

Grape variety: 100% nebbiolo

Surface area: in Barbaresco 4 hectares in the “Rabajà” zone, with south, south-westerly exposure

Altitude: 235 / 315 meters a.s.l.

Soil: Limestone and clay soil rich in minerals and stratified with layers of “tufo”

Age of vineyard: around 50 years. Density of planting system guyot-4,000 vines per hectare

Vinification: around 30 days of fermentation in stainless steel and old cement tanks

Ageing: 20/22 months in Slavonian oak barrels ranging in size of 17 to 25 hectolitres and in age of 5/6 years minimum. Minimum 10 months of maturing in the bottle before being released for sale.

 

“It’s impossible not to admire these genuine, sincere wines and their equally unpretentious prices”. Antonio Galloni

About Guiseppe Cortese

Giuseppe went solo in 1971, making his first wine under his own name.

About the 2020 Barbaresco Vintage

From Galloni:

This is a fine set of new releases from Cortese. The entry-level wines are terrific, a theme that continues through to the Barbarescos. Readers who enjoy structured, traditionally build wines will find much to admire. As has been the case for a few years now, the wines seem to be gaining in finesse, which is always great to see.

Where in the World is Giuseppe Cortese?

Cortese’s best vineyard is undoubtedly his Rabajà

Contrary to how it may appear when seen from a distance, the Rabajà hill is anything but homogeneous and can be broadly divided into at least two areas. The first bordering on Asili coincides with the picturesque amphitheatre overlooking the Martinenga cru, and mostly enjoys a south-westerly aspect. The second, on the other hand, is more linear and faces due south, though within it there are some evident variations due to marked undulations around the hillside. In both cases, the style of the wine is, however, richer and bolder than the Asili and Martinenga (although a more uncompromising, mineral character tends to emerge in the second area).

Cortese’s Rabajà is mainly facing south-west in the hollow above Martinenga, south for the remainder

Click to enlarge 🔎
96 Points

Enticing scents of blue flower, crushed mint, berry and vineyard dust form the nose along with a whiff of new leather. The firmly structured, focused palate shows cherry marinated in spirits, black raspberry and liquorice alongside a backbone of fine-grained tannins. It’s well-balanced, with vibrant acidity.

The Wine Enthusiast

95 Points

The 2020 Barbaresco Rabajà is a total knock-out. Dark, layered and mysterious, the 2020 is pure seduction. All the elements are so well put together for a young Barbaresco. In 2020 Cortese did not bottle a Riserva, and the addition of that fruit clearly benefits this bottling. Black cherry, kirsch, lavender, spice and dried herbs all build in a super-classic Rabajà that delivers the goods. Don't miss it.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous

93 Points

With fruit from the village of Barbaresco, the 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà is glossy and bright with dried berry, cassis, aniseed and candied orange peel. This silky wine offers medium length, silky tannins and easy freshness.

Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Giuseppe Cortese, Strada Rabaja, Barbaresco, Piedmont, Province of Cuneo, Italy

Barbaresco
Piedmont
Italy

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