2016 Barbaresco, Rabajà, Riserva, Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy

2016 Barbaresco, Rabajà, Riserva, Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy

Product: 20168213938
Prices start from £199.50 per magnum (150cl). Buying options
2016 Barbaresco, Rabajà, Riserva, Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.

Description

12,826 bottles were made this vintage.

Rabajà is known for its precision and extreme balance, and these qualities are especially pronounced in this excellent vintage. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a gorgeous wine, and one that is offered at an unbelievably low price, especially considering the quality and depth you are given here. Sheer elegance is the impression you get upon first inspection, and the bouquet opens gradually to embrace wild berry, cherry, white stone, light spice, tar and a hint of toasted hazelnut. Quite a few families contribute fruit for this blend: Antona, Arossa, Bianco, Casetta, Lembo, Lignana, Manzone, Vacca and Vezza.

Drink 2024 - 2055

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (June 2021)

wine at a glance

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Critics reviews

Antonio Galloni, Vinous98/100

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is brooding in its intensity. Swaths of tannin, acid and mineral notes infuse the 2016 with striking gravitas. A wine of staggering proportion and breathtaking beauty, the Rabajà is the sort of wine I wish every Vinous reader could taste because it captures the essence of place and vintage with so much pedigree and so much class. Black cherry, sage, crushed rocks, menthol and lavender are some of the many nuances that linger on the eternal finish.

Drink 2024 - 2041

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (October 2020)

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Wine Advocate98/100

12,826 bottles were made this vintage.

Rabajà is known for its precision and extreme balance, and these qualities are especially pronounced in this excellent vintage. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a gorgeous wine, and one that is offered at an unbelievably low price, especially considering the quality and depth you are given here. Sheer elegance is the impression you get upon first inspection, and the bouquet opens gradually to embrace wild berry, cherry, white stone, light spice, tar and a hint of toasted hazelnut. Quite a few families contribute fruit for this blend: Antona, Arossa, Bianco, Casetta, Lembo, Lignana, Manzone, Vacca and Vezza.

Drink 2024 - 2055

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (June 2021)

Read more

About this WINE

Produttori del Barbaresco

Produttori del Barbaresco

Produttori del Barbaresco is located in the Barbaresco region of Piedmont, Italy. It is a cooperative winery established in 1958 by a group of 19 growers who recognised the potential of the Barbaresco region and decided to join forces. It has grown to include over 50 members who collectively cultivate approximately 100 hectares of vineyards.

The cooperative owns vineyards in different cru sites, including Asili, Montefico, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajè, Pora, Rabajà, Rio Sordo, and Muncagota. These vineyards are known for their distinct terroirs and contribute to the complexity and character of the wines.

The primary grape variety used by Produttori del Barbaresco is Nebbiolo, indigenous to the Piedmont region. Nebbiolo produces wines with intense aromatics, high acidity, and firm tannins. The cooperative also has a small amount of Barbera and Dolcetto wines.

Produttori del Barbaresco focuses on traditional winemaking practices to preserve the authenticity and character of the Nebbiolo grape. The wines are fermented in large oak casks and undergo extended maceration to extract colour, flavour, and tannins. Ageing takes place in large Slavonian oak barrels for an extended period, allowing the wines to develop complexity and refinement.

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Barbaresco

Barbaresco

The Piedmontese DOCG zone of Barbaresco is responsible for producing some of Italy’s finest wines. It occupies the same region and uses the same grape (Nebbiolo) as its bigger brother Barolo, but is a third of the size (only 640 hectares versus Barolo’s 1,700 hectares). It is also 50 years younger than Barolo, having produced wine labelled Barbaresco since 1890.

Barbaresco earned its DOCG after Barolo in 1980, largely thanks to the efforts of Angelo Gaja. The soils are lighter here than in Barolo – both in colour and weight – and more calcareous. The slopes are also less favourably situated and (relatively speaking) yield earlier-maturing yet extremely elegant wines that require less oak ageing (normally one year in oak plus six months in bottle). The appellation’s key districts are Barbaresco, Treiso, Neive and Alba.

Recommended producers: Cigliuti, Gaja, Marchesi di Gresy

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Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is the grape behind the Barolo and Barbaresco wines and is hardly ever seen outside the confines of Piedmont. It takes its name from "nebbia" which is Italian for fog, a frequent phenomenon in the region.

A notoriously pernickety grape, it requires sheltered south-facing sites and performs best on the well-drained calcareous marls to the north and south of Alba in the DOCG zones of Barbaresco and Barolo.

Langhe Nebbiolo is effectively the ‘second wine’ of Piedmont’s great Barolo & Barbarescos. This DOC is the only way Langhe producers can declassify their Barolo or Barbaresco fruit or wines to make an early-drinking style. Unlike Nebbiolo d’Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo can be cut with 15% other red indigenous varieties, such as Barbera or Dolcetto.

Nebbiolo flowers early and ripens late, so a long hang time, producing high levels of sugar, acidity and tannins; the challenge being to harvest the fruit with these three elements ripe and in balance. The best Barolos and Barbarescos are perfumed with aromas of tar, rose, mint, chocolate, liquorice and truffles. They age brilliantly and the very best need ten years to show at their best.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.