Sottimano
Barbaresco, Italy
"I always believe that every great wine is the result of serious, conscientious and passionate work in the vineyards" - Rino Sottimano
Sottimano is one of a few estates which made the wine community rethink the “little brother” approach to Barbaresco compared to Barolo as a fine wine-producing region.
Founded by Rino Sottimano in the ’60s and currently backed up by a new generation in the family Andrea, Elena and Claudia, they have 18 ha of top quality vineyards in the Barbaresco area. Farmed biodynamically, not certified.
The wines are the subject of 70 years of dreams and aspirations. They are complex, extremely balanced, products of slow winemaking, hard work and care in the vineyards.
Some excerpts from Rino Sottimano’s comments on the approach in the winery: “Alcoholic fermentation is completely natural with indigenous yeasts, followed by long ageing in wood “sur lie” to complete the malolactic fermentation; there’s no use of Sulphur until the final bottling, which happens with no filtering or fining…” Recently they even started to skip malolactic fermentation by cellaring the wine faster and, thus, preserving extra acidity and, implicitly, freshness.
We are proud to carry two wines from Sottimano in our selection:
Reviewed by Lea and Sandeman, independent London based wine merchants, "Sottimano Barbaresco Basarin 2015" scored an amazing 96 points with comments as follows:
"Shows more plushness and opulence than many other Barbaresco. Incredibly floral with lavish red fruits and fine tannins. Great length. From 70-year old vines."
"Sottimano Bric del Salto Dolcetto d'Alba 2016" scores 88 points and described as light and perfumed and highly popular amongst wine lovers.
