Albino Rocca Barbaresco Cottà DOCG 2017

The Albino Rocca 2017 Barbaresco Cottà pours from the bottle with a beautifully bright and vibrant ruby color. The bouquet in this vintage delivers a steady and broad display of dark fruit and dried cherry aromas, without the aromatic high-pitched notes that you might get in a cooler vintage. The presentation is more baritone in 2017, with smoky or tobaccolike nuances. But the music is elegant and soft overall. It's worth paying special attention to the tannins here because they do stand out for their glossy, steely nature. My bet is that the tightness of the wine will be preserved even as the wine continues its aging trajectory over the years to come. Cottà is a relatively new project for Albino Rocca, and the first vintage made from this half-hectare parcel was 2015. The soils here are ancient, with mixed marl, limestone and sandy soils at 310 meters above sea level. Winemaking is the same as the other wines: Extended fermentation lasts about 30 days, and the wine ages in Stockinger oak casks for two years. Some 2,000 bottles were released in March 2020. There is a lot of potential here, and it's worth keeping an eye on this expression from Cottà to see where the future will bring it. I was very impressed by the 2016 vintage I tasted last year, and this 2017 vintage overachieves in what was not an easy season.

Score: 92+
Tasting date: 23 July 2020
Drinking window: 2022 > 2035 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, reviewed by: Monica Larner

Neive. Tasted blind. Mid ruby. Great depth of sweet cherry and raspberry on the nose. Bags of chewy tannins frames supple, juicy sweet fruit. Can be approached now, but ideally should get a little more age (Walter Speller).

Jancis Robinson score: 17
Tasting date: 20 July 2020
Drinking window: 2022 - 2030

JancisRobinson.com

Very pretty and balanced with ripe-strawberry, citrus and cedar aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied with polish and refinement for the vintage. Better after 2023.

Score: 95
Tasting date: aug 2020
Drinking window: 2023 > 

James Suckling

Wine Enthousiast: 95

falstaff: 91