2013 Barbaresco Currà 

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.

This is a stellar set of wines from the Sottimano family. The 2013s are brisk, energetic, and deeply marked with terroir signatures. Quite frankly, it's hard to ask for much more. The 2013s spent 30 days on the skins, followed by slow, native malos (the Pajoré and Currà took a year and half to finish) in neutral French oak, where the wines were on their lees with no SO2 and just one racking prior to bottling. In order to make wines in this distinctly Burgundian style, Sottimano keeps the cellar very cold. Leaving the wines unprotected in barrel for months before the malos kick in the following spring, while quite common in Burgundy, is considered risky in Piedmont, where the majority of producers encourage quick malos that follow alcoholic fermentation. Yet the results are quite clear. The 2013s are fabulous. In addition to these wines, I also tasted the 2004s and 2005s for a major retrospective on those vintages, which showed just how far the estate has come over the last decade. Best of all, prices have barely moved over that time, especially in light of the huge strides that Sottimano has made in ratcheting up quality.