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Giuseppe Cortese, Barbaresco Rabaja, 2008

Red Wine from Piedmont, Italy
by Giuseppe Cortese
$79.99
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Seventeen years of cellar time and the wine is just hitting its stride. Giuseppe Cortese has farmed in Rabajà — Barbaresco's most aristocratic cru, alongside Asili and Martinenga — for generations, and the family approach is unwaveringly traditional: south-facing calcareous-marl, vines pushing seventy years old, extended élevage in large neutral Slavonian casks. The 2008 vintage was a classical, structured Piedmont year, and time has done what time does to honest Nebbiolo. The fruit has settled into tertiary territory — dried roses, leather, tobacco leaf, tar — while the texture remains supple and the finish carries that menthol-licorice signature Rabajà is famous for. A mature traditional Barbaresco drinking at peak, with another decade of life if you have the patience.

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Antonio Galloni

91 points

"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." —Stephen Tanzer

Wine Spectator

91 points

"A pretty red, this evokes flowers, strawberry and raspberry , with an underlying mineral current. Firmly structured, with precision and a long aftertaste of fruit and mineral."

Kerin O'Keefe

93 points

"This has a rather subdued nose that offers aromas of mature dark-skinned fruit, leather, tobacco, cooking spice and a balsamic note. The tightly woven, structured palate offers dried black cherry, ground pepper and intense licorice framed in a backbone of firm, refined tannins." —Kerin O'Keefe

More about Giuseppe Cortese

Wine Details

  • Vintage

    2008

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Traditional

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Braised veal shank with gremolata, brasato al Barolo, wild mushroom risotto, aged Castelmagno, or a Sunday plate of agnolotti del plin in butter and sage.

Tasting Profile

Full-bodied, fully mature. Dried rose, sour cherry, leather, tobacco, tar, menthol, licorice, sweet earth. Resolved tannins, lifted acidity, supple texture, long savory finish with classic Rabajà spice.