Malcolm Jolley talks to Elena Sottimano about her family’s Barbaresco vineyards and winery.
Elena Sottimano in the Toronto offices of Le Sommelier.
Elena Sottimano and her brother, Andrea, are the second generation to work at their family’s eponymous winery in Barbaresco, Azienda Agricola Sottimano. Sottimano was in Toronto recently, promoting the 2015 vintage of her family’s Dolcetto, Barbera, ‘plain’ Langhe Nebbiolo, and (of course) Barbaresco from their four vineyards spread around the small, hilly region. In the video below, Elena Sottimano talks about how her family makes wine, their relationship with the land and the characteristics of the 2015 vintage.
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For the record, I tasted the 2015 Sottimano Barberesco’s from the Pajoré, Fausoni, and Cottà vineyards. While each had its own character, all three shared a purity of fruit and elegance that revealed itself through the tannic grip of their young age. I also tried the 2010 vintage from Cottà, which was stunning, but still young yet, and the 2013 Currà whose old vines imparted the wine with a seasoning of minerality over the clean dark cherry fruit. They are all available in Ontario through Le Sommelier, as well as the lovely herbal tinged 2015 Dolcetto, the 2015 Barbera d’Alba full of finesse, and the 2015 Langhe Nebbiolo, which could be marketed as Babaresco but which, because it is made made from younger vines, the Sottimano family feels not quite up to the complexity of their flagship labels (I thought it was delicious).
Visit the Sottimano website at sottimano.it. Sottimano is represented in Ontario by Le Sommelier.
