Still in barrel, the 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà comes across as quite brooding in this tasting. The dark, balsamic-inflected aromas and flavors depict a rich, authoritative Barbaresco. Ample and voluptuous, the 2013 offers notable potential, with scents of saddle leather, menthol, pine and licorice that linger on the finish. This is going to be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years.

Gabriele Cortese bottles a Riserva only in years he deems ‘classic’– seven to date since 1996. It's assembled from 70-year-old vines within the Rabajà MGA, where the winery is located. After fermentation in cement, it matures in the estate’s oldest Slavonian oak casks, averaging 40 years. Released in 2020, this 2013 starts with the prettiest of aromas that are almost primary in expression: pure raspberry and blackberry notes are surprisingly fresh for such a long-aged wine. Much more backward, the palate is nonetheless equally youthful, particularly in its rigid and seemingly unmovable structure. It will need another couple of years to truly reveal its charms.

The Giuseppe Cortese 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà has a rich and sweet bouquet with plum and dark cherry. The bouquet reveals ripe black fruit notes that stand in contrast to background notes of sour cherry or cranberry. It's hard to pin down if the wine can be described as overripe or underripe, because it shows signs of both but ultimately remains somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. Give the wine more cellar time to come together. Fruit comes from a one-hectare parcel in this celebrated cru at 270 meters above sea level with calcareous clay soils. The wine sees extended aging with 40 months in large Slavonian oak casks and an additional three years in bottle. Some 6,000 bottles were released at the beginning of this year.