2016 Sottimano "Cottà" Barbaresco

The 2016 Barbaresco Cottà brings together the natural breadth of this site with the more refined style that has been in place here for some years, in an absolutely stunning, translucent wine that hits all the right notes. Sweet black cherry, lavender, spice and menthol all run through this richly, textured, deeply satisfying Barbaresco. The 2016 has so much energy and also so much depth. I absolutely loved it. (AG) 95+

Fun fact: The accent mark on this vineyard's original name was what the Italians call an accento acuto (accent aigu, for francophiles), as in Cottá, an unusual diacritical mark to stick over an "a" in Italian. So the opposite-slanting and more common accento grave was printed on vineyard maps and wine labels starting in the 1990s, and with all the success it has had, Sottimano thinks the normalized punctuation might actually bring good luck. This is the trademark wine of this estate for its elegance, power and finesse. With an extra gear in terms of intensity, right off the bat the 2016 Barbaresco Cottá brings fullness and generosity. There are wonderful notes of mint and licorice to it, a streamlined wine with a great deal of purity. It's got a lot of volume and even more dimension. There is also that pretty salty mineral note on the close. Some 9,000 bottles were made. (ML) 94+