2008 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja
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Tasting notes
(aged for 22 months in big barrels, none new): Good full medium red. The nose offers a tight core of sour cherry, redcurrant, mint, menthol and flowers. Taut rather than fleshy, with penetrating acidity contributing to an impression of energy. The firm tannic spine of this perfumed midweight calls for at least five years of patience.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2008 Barbaresco Rabajà is without question one of the wines of the vintage in this irregular year. It flows with deep layers of menthol, licorice and spices, showing tons of power. This is a dazzling wine endowed with marvelous inner perfume, great richness and huge staying power on the palate. Today it is still quite primary and in need of at least several years of cellaring. Tobacco, licorice and menthol wrap around the palate on the intense finish. The 2008 is a stunning Rabajà from Cortese. Incidentally, there is no Riserva in 2008, all of the best juice went into this, the regular bottling.
The 2008 Barbaresco Rabaja is without question one of the wines of the vintage in this irregular year. It flows with deep layers of menthol, licorice and spices, showing tons of power. This is a dazzling wine endowed with marvelous inner perfume, great richness and huge staying power on the palate. Today it is still quite primary and in need of at least several years of cellaring. Tobacco, licorice and menthol wrap around the palate on the intense finish. The 2008 is a stunning Rabaja from Cortese. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024. This is an impressive set of wines from Cortese. It’s impossible not to admire these genuine, sincere wines and their equally unpretentious prices. A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620
Barbaresco. Palish ruby with watery rim. Sweet, and hinting at fruit, but more savoury at the moment. Quite classic palate, nothing overworked or overdone. Very well balanced as well as elegant. (WS)