Sottimano

Az. Agr. Sottimano was founded in 1975 by Maggiore Sottimano. The cellar and a small holding in the Cotta vineyard were purchased first, then over the next 30 years Maggiore expanded the estate's Nebbiolo holdings in some of Barbaresco's most revered vineyards - Cotta, Pajore, Fausoni, Curra and in 2001 Basarin. Today, Maggiore’s son Andrea is the winemaker and uses his father’s 30+ years of experience to make decisions in the vineyard. Andrea has a light hand in the cellar and may be Barbareco's most forward-thinking producer. Macerations for Nebbiolo are around 18 days, malolactic fermentation occurs naturally without warming the cellars, in barrique, on the lees for up to 12 months with no sulfur. Fermentation happens with natural, ambient yeasts and the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. The vineyards are farmed organically with cover crops promoting bio-diversity. By doing less, Andrea is taking risks, but moving foward and exploring new ground in terms of transparent, natural wines. These are among the most terroir-driven wines in the Langhe and the future is extremely bright at this estate.