2008 Sottimano Barbaresco Riserva

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 92.8 points

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  10/13/2021 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points

  Wednesday night wines (Chez Pavlovich, Westchester-LA California): And thank you Rob for pulling this one out for me! While my Nebbiolo preferences generally go in the traditional direction, Sottimano is a producer that I've always enjoyed and find that they don't take things too far on the Modern side. This was a real treat from the second my nose went to the glass as there was an intense florality to the nose of Violets, wild flowers, and various purple florals. Beneath the floralness lied gorgeous and deep tones of raspberries, cranberries, dark red cherries, dark red fruits, tobacco, licorice, leather, and earthy notes. There's almost a heady quality to the nose that just knocks me back. The Full bodied feel is well balanced and deep with a long, persistent finish as well as tart, high acidity and chewy, high tannins. The tannins are starting to peel back a bit, but the structure is definitely letting us know that this is still a young wine. It may be young, it is also a complete knockout. I really hope I cross paths with this again and maybe closer to 2030 when it should be at full maturity.

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  10/13/2021 - grafstrb wrote:

  NOSE: minty
  
  BODY: medium-light to medium bodied.
  
  TASTE: strong cherry; very tannic; lots of mineral ; a bit warm; very good and still has upside.

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  10/13/2021 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Opened along with an 08’ Burlotto Monvigliero and an 08’ Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato. While the Monprivato was pleasant it wasn’t singing like the Burlotto and Sottimano were. In fact, this Sottimano was positively on fire. Expressive on the nose, and of course it’s a bigger, baritonal beast than the Monvigliero on the palate, but more archetypal to Piedmont with excellent fruit concentration and freshness to match, and little to no heat. The tannins really put on a show on the finish, giving
  tons of energy, complexity, and length on the back, it really sails on and persists. Absolutely what I look for in Piedmont.
  
  I blinded this on my guests and guesses were Aldo Conterno or something from Monforte, and I thought the guesses were somewhat apt as yes there is some oak influence here and yes it is a powerful wine. Some complained of too much tannic energy and power to this but that’s what I absolutely love about Piedmont, and there was plenty of Italian food around us to match.
  
  This showed much better than my last bottle a few years back, the oak having integrated, bringing more focus and definition to it.

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  10/31/2020 - acyso wrote: 90 Points

  Fairly dark in colour, and in fruit as well. The nose shows a hint of brown spice, ripe plums, and a little Sharpie marker. Very intense and opulent palate, with a distinct touch of oak (which isn't overbearing, however). There is a lot of structure here, and the wine is very youthful. Good structure and concentration on the palate, but it's the oak, leaving a spicy bitterness that gets to me. Plenty of aging potential for sure, best to revisit with many more years under its belt.

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  11/23/2017 - Rollerball wrote: flawed

  Corked

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View all 7 Community Tasting Notes

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