Giuseppe Cortese

Rabajà Barbaresco Riserva

Nebbiolo

Barbaresco Rabajà Riserva DOCG bottle image

Nebbiolo

This wine is made only in the finest vintages. The grapes are selected from the oldest vines in the prestigious Rabajà cru. After traditional vinification, the wine is aged for 40 months, and refined for an additional three years in bottle before release. This prolonged aging period ensures the perfect balance of tannins, body, fruit and acidity, resulting in a wine with great personality and refinement.

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Tasting Notes

Barbaresco Rabajá Riserva offers an intense and ethereal bouquet of plums, prunes, cinnamon, cocoa, tobacco, leather and spice. Dry, and full-bodied, with robust flavors developing on the palate and unveiling this wine's very solid structure and elegance.

Food Pairing

Incredibly long-lived, it is recommended with pot roasts, truffles, polenta with ossobuco, and other rich fare.

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Tasting Notes

Food Pairing

Incredibly long-lived, it is recommended with pot roasts, truffles, polenta with ossobuco, and other rich fare.

Brand Materials

Tech Sheet Bottle Shot Acclaim

POINTS

“What a nose of dried citrus, tangerines, blood oranges, incense, tobacco, cloves, lavender and cedar. Full body, uber-polished tannins and a long, spicy yet taut finish. The complexity and balance take you on a long journey here. Be prepared! Drink in 2023.”

James Suckling

POINTS

James Suckling

POINTS

“Complex and perfumed, this shows flavors of tangy berry fruit, tobacco and iron. Harmonious even in its youth.”

POINTS

“Complex and perfumed, this red invites you in with aromas of rose, strawberry and sun-kissed hay, then keeps you riveted with flavors of tangy berry fruit, tobacco and iron. Harmonious even in its youth, expanding on the long aftertaste.”

95+

“The 2011 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a fabulous choice for readers who want to experience a first-rate wine without waiting for years and years. A wine of volume, intensity and power, the 2011 hits the palate with notable resonance. Ripe, silky tannins add to the wine's immense appeal. There is no question the 2011 shows the exotic ripeness of the year, and yet there is more than enough freshness to balance the wine's more overt leanings. Don't miss it.”

POINTS

“The 2011 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a total pleasure bomb. Just as captivating (if not more) than it has been in the past, the 2011 exudes remarkable class. A burst of sweet red berry fruit, hard candy and wild flowers makes a strong first impression, but what impresses most is the wine's sublime freshness.”

94+

“The 2011 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà opens with captivating aromatics. Sweet rose petal, mint, anise, sweet red cherry, plum and pomegranate are all infused in a silky, nuanced Barbaresco with a good deal of brightness. The 2011 finishes with striking aromatic presence and tons of expressive floral notes. It is a gorgeous wine in the making. Pier Carlo Cortese gave this fruit approximately 25-30 days on the skins and the wine spent about 40 months in cask.”

POINTS

“The 2011 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà delivers a savory and evolved quality with tar, resin and pipe tobacco. There is some vague primary fruit that comes forth as dried blackberry and black currant. Smoke and tangy spice appear in thick waves over the finish. This was a hot vintage, and my impression is that the fruit is gradually moving toward the dry side of the spectrum…This wine is only made in the best vintages, and the last vintage released was 2008.”

Vineyard & Production Info

Production area/appellation:

Barbaresco DOCG

Vineyard name:

Barbaresco/The Rabajà vineyard

Vineyard size:

10 acres

Soil composition:

Calcareous and Clay

Training method:

Guyot

Elevation:

900 feet

Vines/acre:

1,800

Yield/acre:

2.4 tons

Exposure:

Southern/Southwestern

Year vineyard planted:

1953

Harvest time:

October

First vintage of this wine:

1971

Bottles produced of this wine:

6,000

Average Vine Age:

Winemaking & Aging

Time on its skins:

Maceration length:

20-25

Varietal composition:

100% Nebbiolo

Fermentation container:

Cement vats

Length of alcoholic fermentation:

10-12 days

Fermentation temperature:

84 °F

Maceration technique:

Pumpovers

Malolactic fermentation:

Yes

Type of aging container:

Barrels

Size of aging container:

1,600-2,500 L

Type of oak:

Slavonian oak

Length of aging before bottling:

4 years

Age of Aging Container:

40 years old

Length of bottle aging:

3 years

Total SO2:

Analytical Data

pH level:

3.5

Acidity:

7 g/L

Alcohol:

14.8 %

Dry extract:

33.9 g/L

Total SO2:

Residual sugar:

0.5 g/L

About the Vineyard

Extending as far as the Trifolera hill, the Rabajà vineyard stretches over the crest of the hill that extends from Asili to Trifolera. Contrary to what it looks like from a distance, the Rabajà hill is not homogeneous and can be divided into two areas. The first, bordering on Asili, includes the well-positioned amphitheater that dominates the Martinenga, and is mostly exposed to south-west. The second area has a more linear appearance and is exposed to south, although there are some variations due to the hill’s undulating ground. In both cases, the wine’s style is fuller in body, and firmer as compared with Asili and Martinenga.

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