2013 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva

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.

The 2013 Barbaresco Rabajà Riserva is a dense, brooding wine endowed with serious depth and intensity, Graphite, smoke, cured meats, spice, leather and licorice give the Riserva its decidedly sombre, virile personality. Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2013 for at least a few years. Today, the 2013 is in an awkward stage where it is mot young, but it is also not mature, and in periods like this, patience is key, as there is not much pleasure to be had. The 2013 won't be released until at least Spring 2020, so there is plenty of time.

The 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. That is the good news. The less good news is that, unlike the 2011, the 2013 won't be ready to drink anytime soon. Readers should expect a muscular, full-throttle Barbaresco of breadth and pure power. A super-classic wine in the making, the 2013 is captivating, even in the early going.