2016 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva

Save $35.00
Guiseppe Cortese's pinnacle Riserva release, made only in classic vintages such as 2019. A remarkable Barbaresco.

Price:
Sale price$350.00 Regular price$385.00
Stock:
Sold out
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

The Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva is only made in the finest, classic Barbaresco vintages, such as the remarkable 2019 vintage.  It is the winery's finest expression of Nebbiolo.

The Riserva comes from a small parcel of Rabaja vineyard fruit, with south-westerly exposure.  It sees a whopping 40 months in Slavonian oak barrels, before being aged in bottle for a further 3 years before release.

It's a truly stunning Nebbiolo.  Cortese's wines are renowned for their elegance, purity and beautiful ageability, and this is no exception.  A Barbaresco for any great Nebbiolo collection.

99 points - "The 2016 Rabajà Riserva is drop-dead gorgeous, starting with its luminous ruby color and beautiful aromas of forest berry, rose, iris, menthol and star anise. Full-bodied, delicious and focused, the elegantly structured palate features juicy black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and saline mineral notes before a minty close. While expressive and savory, it also shows the restraint of the best world-class wines and is beautifully balanced, with polished tannins and fresh acidity. What a stunner." - Kerrin O’Keefe (Wine Enthusiast)

97 points, "The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is stellar. Just starting to open aromatically, the 2016 is superb in this tasting. Sweet macerated cherry, spice, new leather, tobacco and dried herbs all grace the 2016 with notable aromatic complexity. As always, the Riserva is an ethereal, engaging wine with less immediacy and mid-palate than the other Barbarescos here, but in exchange tons of nuance. This is the best showing yet for the 2016, a wine that satisfies both the hedonistic and intellectual senses." - Antonio Galloni (Vinous)

96 points, "Black cherry, tea leaf, aniseed, lavender, sage, and plenty of floral top notes, cedar and damp earth. It’s medium-bodied, cherry and strawberry, distinctly stony, so fresh and pure, with a juicy succulence of fruit and autumnal character. Tannin is ripe and chalky, and runs the length of the wine, so ferrous, but with small berried red fruit and cherry intensity of flavour. The finish is grainy and offers impeccable length and precision. It’s a vibrant and distinctly ‘mineral’ expression of Barbaresco, and even at seven years of age, feels almost painfully youthful. Unreal." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

95 points, "The Giuseppe Cortese 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a late release and one I am sure this winery is quite happy to see go to market given the hype surrounding this excellent vintage. There is a very pretty smoothness here, both in terms of the aromatic delivery and the mouthfeel, which shows how nicely Nebbiolo can reach balance. The bouquet is lithe and delicate with wild berry, crushed rose petal, white licorice and campfire ash. Some 6,000 bottles were made. Great job." - Monica Larner (The Wine Advocate)

Grape variety:
100% Nebbiolo

Surface area:
In Barbaresco ,1 hectare in the “Rabajà” zone, with south, south-westerly exposure

Altitude:
235 / 315 meters a.s.l.

Soil:
Limestone and clay soil rich in minerals and stratified with layers of “tufo”.

Age of vineyard:
Around 70 years. Density of planting system: guyot-4,000 vines per hectare.

Vinification: around 35 days of fermentation in stainless steel and old cement tanks.

Ageing:
40 months in Slavonian oak barrels ranging in size of 17 to 25 hectolitres and in age of 30/32 years. Minimum 3 years of maturing in the bottle before being released for sale.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Nebbiolo
Country Italy
Region Piedmont
Feature High Score
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Vinous
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 97
96
95
Alcohol 15%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2016
Closure Cork

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message