2011 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà

Community Tasting Notes (12) Avg Score: 90.1 points

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  3/11/2023 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Wonderful nose loaded with pot pourri, pine needles and spice box. Medium bodied, this is bright with classic red cherries, leather, high acid and with taut tannins. Drink now- 2025 92

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  11/28/2022 - WineGuyX wrote: 88 Points

  Black cherry, some herbal nuance and pine needles on the low-key nose. The palate is a little more intense with flavors that largely echo the aromas with the addition of old leather. In fine shape, this seems like it could go a bit longer, but given the low levels of aroma and flavor, I'd opt for the short term. Drink now-2025 88
  
  edit: After re-reading my previous review, this seems quite different than that bottle.

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  7/22/2022 - WineGuyX wrote: 90 Points

  Heady nose of oak, coffee grounds, tilled earth and black cherries. The palate is a bit livelier/fresher with some pine and eucalyptus. The ethanol is quite evident on the nose and palate, really showing the heat of the vintage. In addition, the tannins aren't high, but are of mediocre quality. This is a brute of a wine without the finesse and femininity I so adore in Barbaresco. That said, it is full-bodied and packs in a decent amount of flavor. This has several years ahead of it, but I can't imagine it will get any better, so why wait?? Drink now (or 2026)-2030 90

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  5/17/2020 - LEEJV123 wrote: 90 Points

  Medium full body, round, balanced, some length.

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  12/12/2017 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  A traditionalist Barbaresco by all accounts: made from old-vineyard Nebbiolo located in the Rabajà cru. Fermented and macerated in stainless steel over a period of 3-4 weeks. Aged in new to 9-yo Slavonian oak casks (1700-2600 liters) for 22 months and for a further year in bottles before release.
  
  Pretty deep, moderately translucent dark ruby color that turns a bit paler towards the rim. Obviously much deeper color than that of 2012 or 2013 (which are sitting in the neighboring glasses). Very ripe and brooding nose with dark-toned and somewhat restrained aromasof wizened black cherries, opulent dark fruits, some overripe forest berries and a little bit of tobacco. The ripeness of the fruit is quite obvious here always from the beginning. The wine is full-bodied, dense and chewy on the palate with very ripe and complex flavors of ripe black cherries, succulent dark plums, some sweet boysenberries, a hint of pruney dark fruit, light cherry liqueur character, a hint of peppery spice and a touch of pipe tobacco. The wine is very firm, structured and stern with high acidity and very ample, potent and noticeably grippy tannins. The finish is ripe, intense and somewhat warm with noticeable tannic grip and bold flavors of sour plums, sour cherry bitterness, some boysenberries, a little bit of blackberry marmalade sweetness and a hint of raisined and slightly pruney fruit.
  
  This is a very big, firm and opulent Barbaresco from a warm vintage and it shows - but only in fruit. The structure is very impressively firm, tightly-knit and quite unyielding at the moment, so the wine is still pretty unapproachable right now. Overall the wine shows pretty classic old-school Barbaresco style, although in a quite ripe and fruit-forward fashion. Most likely won't start offering its best before its 10th birthday and will require more than 15 years of aging before starting to show really well. A lot of potential here.

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