2015 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Cottà, Piedmont

2015 is the inaugural release of Rocca’s Barbaresco Cottà. It’s drawn from one of the better-known Barbaresco subzones—Neive—and was, we’re told, one of the first sites in Barbaresco to be produced as a single vineyard. The Rocca’s are working with a micro parcel of 50 year old vines sited on the belly of the south-west facing slope. A second parcel, home to younger vines, is declassified into the Barbaresco. The site lies adjacent to Rocca’s Gepin (Barbera) parcel and directly faces the Ronchi vineyard. It’s a tiny holding, producing no more than 2,000 bottles. The sand-rich clay/marl soils produce generous, yet fine wines that marry beautifully with Rocca’s elegant interpretation of Nebbiolo. The 2015 was raised in a single 15 hectolitre Austrian (Stockinger) cast. Young as it is, there’s already a fusion of sweet cherry, dried berries and rosemary flavours, backed by smoky tannins, and distinctive salty/iodine freshness and a hint of animale. In a word, lovely.

Here in its first release, 2015 Barbaresco Cottà, shows the natural breadth of this vineyard in Neive. There has a real sense of weight and gravitas that distinguishes the Cottà in this range. I would give the 2015 at least a few years in bottle to fully come together. This is certainly an auspicious debut. The Cottà could very well be a new star in the range.’