2014 Barbaresco Currà 

Andrea Sottimano and his family continue to make wines of pedigree and class. Each and every year the wines are a little more refined, a little more nuanced, and always of great interest. The 2015s are the product of a warm vintage in which the fruit was brought in between late September and early October. For purposes of comparison, harvest was a few weeks later in both 2014 and 2016. Sottimano gave their 2015s a full 40 days on the skins, about ten days longer than the 2014s. As has been the case for some time, the wines are aged in French oak barrels, with very little new oak, and with an emphasis on keeping temperatures cool in order to encourage long malolactic fermentations and graceful aging over the two years the wines spend in barrel. In tasting, I found the 2015s to be strong across the board, although vineyard signatures are not as marked as they are in cooler vintages. It will be interesting to see if the wines shut down post bottling at some point. The 2014 Barbarescos are every bit as brilliant as they were last year.

Andrea Sottimano's 2014 Barbarescos are more than worthy follow-ups to the 2013s. Yields are down about 30% across the board, which has resulted in wines with tremendous depth and intensity, that are both deeper than normal, but also lower in alcohol. I also had a chance to revisit the 2013s. Those wines are just as impressive as they were last year.