Sottimano Barbaresco Pajore 2016
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Winemaker Notes
The Pajorè vineyard is located in Treiso, between Barbaresco and Alba, a few miles away from our other crus. The main characteristic of this wine is the velvety and elegant tannins combined with a spicy and floral aroma.
100% Nebbiolo from 50-70 year old vines. There is no filtering and no fining prior to bottling.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Elegant and structured, this full-bodied wine has aromas of ripe black-skinned berry, leather, menthol and baking spice. The focused palate shows great freshness and finesse, offering cranberry, red cherry, vanilla and licorice set against firm, finegrained tannins and vibrant acidity before a tight orange zest finish. Drink 2024–2036.
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James Suckling
The nose is so fragrant but deep, taking you on a roller-coaster ride through dried nutmeg and thyme, red licorice and tar, dark brambleberries and spices. The full-bodied palate has marvelous polish and brilliant minerality, but even these pale in comparison to the raw power and meatiness in which this Barbaresco excels. A wine that will stun now, but delight in 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sottimano has five vineyard sites, and the Pajorè site near Treiso has the poorest soils of them all. These wines are more elegant and ready as as result. The 2016 Barbaresco Pajoré sees 40-plus days of maceration and one month of submerged cap in oak (the same goes for all of their Barbarescos), and this can be done only when the skins are perfectly healthy. Remember that this is organic farming we're talking about. The skins are still crunchy. Here you'll find a spicy, elegant and sweet Nebbiolo that is fine and yet really covers the mouth well. I picked up some exotic flower notes that are hard to pinpoint, and once again, the nice saline mouthfeel is impressive.
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Wine & Spirits
From a limestonerich cru in the Treiso commune, this darkfruited and stylish. The wine aged in barriques for two years, just 10 to 15 percent new, yet it carries the oak imprint more prominently than Sottimano’s other crus from this vintage. Still, the rich, resinous texture, polished tannins and warm spice notes promise that this will age well over the next few years.
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Wine Spectator
Warm notes of licorice and leather embrace cherry and plum flavors in this spicy red. Tobacco and earth accents add depth as this plays out on the firm finish. Rich and broad, showing density and grip. Best from 2022 through 2035.
Other Vintages
2019-
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Andrea Sottimano and his father Rino produce wines of outstanding quality from thirteen lovingly cared for hectares in the Cotta, Curra, Fausoni, Pajore and Basarin crus in the Treiso and Neive townships. Their Barbarescos are elegant, evocative, subtle yet hearty. To taste these crus side-by-side is to reply with a resounding yes to skeptics of terroir that question whether differences of only 200 meters does matter! Their approach if one of minimal intervention: indigenous yeasts, no fining or filtering. Each of their four crus Barbarescos are given the same treatment to allow the uniqueness of each cru to express itself. Fermentation is done in oak, of which about 30% is new, followed by 18-20 months in neutral barriques. Every year they produce around 85,000 bottles.
Sottimano is firmly convinced that everything in the vineyards should be done in a serious and respectful way, with the only target of preserving the delicate balance between soils and the ecosystem.
Starting from the begin, together with many other wineries of this region, they have begun to fight the traditional diseases of the vines with natural, environmentally friendly products, and to avoid any kind of herbicides and pesticides
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.