Why it matters
The producer
Sottimano farms five parcels in the Barbaresco DOCG zone of Piemonte, each bottled separately under the vineyard name. Rino Sottimano acquired the first parcel, Cottà, in 1969 after finishing his oenological studies, formally established the winery in 1974, and spent the following decades buying individual named crus rather than building volume. By 2014, when he acquired Basarin as the fifth and final cru, the estate covered roughly 19 hectares across the Neive and Treiso subzones. Three children, Andrea, Elena, and Claudia, now co-manage alongside him.
The five labels are not a range with a house style at the bottom and a prestige tier at the top. Each bottle is the complete expression of one parcel, made the same way, bottled separately. That decision shapes everything: 85,000 bottles from 19 hectares across five Barbaresco crus is not a large output per vineyard, and it means the wines stay parcel-specific rather than blended toward consistency.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Barbaresco DOCG is a red wine appellation in the Langhe hills of Piemonte, east of the Tanaro river. The grape is Nebbiolo, a variety that ripens late, carries firm tannin and high acidity, and shifts in character sharply with altitude, aspect, and subzone soil. Barbaresco DOCG law requires a minimum of nine months in oak and two years total aging before release. Sottimano extends the aging cycle with approximately one year of bottle aging before release.
The appellation divides loosely into three subzones: Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso. Sottimano's vineyards span Neive and Treiso. Neive parcels, Cottà, Fausoni, and Currà, sit in the eastern part of the zone. Treiso lies to the south at generally higher elevation. Basarin sits on the exact boundary between Neive and Treiso at altitude, a position that pushes the aromatic character of the wine toward cooler, more herbal territory than the rounder, more fruit-forward profiles of the valley floor.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Fermentation at Sottimano is spontaneous, driven by the native yeasts present on the grape skins rather than added commercial cultures. Maceration on the skins runs long by Piemontese standards, which extracts more tannin and phenolic material from Nebbiolo than a shorter contact time would. Barbaresco DOCG Basarin shows lingering, velvety tannins with a spice note.
Aging moves to French oak barrels after malolactic fermentation. Ten percent of the barrels are new; ninety percent have been used up to four times previously. The proportion of used wood keeps the oak influence low: four-times-used barrels give almost no vanilla or toasty character and function more as micro-oxygenation vessels than flavour contributors. The wine stays on its lees throughout the barrel period, which adds weight and some textural richness to the finish. Before bottling, no fining agents are added and no filtration takes place, so what goes into the bottle is what the barrel held.
Wines to know
The range in view
All five wines are Barbaresco DOCG, 100% Nebbiolo, bottled individually from their named crus.
Cottà is the original estate vineyard in Neive, acquired in 1969, with the oldest family-planted vines on the property. Fausoni and Currà are also in Neive. Pajoré is in Treiso. Basarin, the youngest addition, sits on the Neive-Treiso boundary at high altitude, with vines between 25 and 60 years old.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Barbaresco DOCG Basarin. It is 100% Nebbiolo from the estate's fifth and most recently acquired cru, on the Neive-Treiso border at high altitude, with vines between 25 and 60 years old. The altitude and border position set the character: balsamic herbs and spice on the nose, wild fruit and floral lift on the palate, velvety tannins that carry a persistent spice note through to the finish. The cellar work adds minimal distraction: native yeast fermentation, long maceration, mostly used French oak, no fining, no filtration. What reaches the glass is Nebbiolo and site, with almost no production overlay.