Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja 2020 (750ML)

97 KO / 95 VM / 95 DE / 94 JS / 93+ JD / 93 WA / 93 WS

#31 Kerin O'Keefe Top 100 Italian Wines of 2023

Made from fifty-year old vines, the compelling Giuseppe Cortese 2020 Rabajà is one of the best wines of the vintage. It opens with perfumed berry, fragrant purple flower and vineyard dust. It’s absolutely delicious, delivering Jolly Rancher cherry, strawberry compote and baking spice flavors before an almost salty mineral finish. It’s structured and full-bodied, with tightly knit tannins while fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2026–2039. Abv: 14.5%-Kerin O’Keefe 

The 2020 Barbaresco Rabajà is a total knock-out. Dark, layered and mysterious, the 2020 is pure seduction. All the elements are so well put together for a young Barbaresco. In 2020 Cortese did not bottle a Riserva, and the additionof that fruit clearly benefits this bottling. Black cherry, kirsch, lavender, spice and dried herbs all build in a super-classic Rabajà that delivers the goods. Don't miss it. –Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Dense ruby in the glass, with precise definition of liquorice root, very restrained redcurrant and pomegranate. Parma violet supplies graceful florality. The attack is firm, as expected from a Rabajà, with very refined and integrated acidity. Leafy lightness in style and almost tart fruit flavours, but tannins of great quality. There is a lot of extraction but not too much and great character overall. Fermented in concrete and aged in large Slavonian oak vessels for 24 months. There is great potential for the long haul as is often demonstrated by the estate.—Aldo Fiorelli, Decanter

Notes of raspberries, blood orange, ground spices and tree bark. Medium-bodied with juicy acidity, polished tannins and vivid red fruit character. Savory and pure with a supple finish and spiced citrus peel undertones to it. Better from 2025.-James Suckling

Set for a September release, the 2020 Barbaresco Rabaja' has a jeweled, transparent appearance and reveals a lovely floral, rosy perfume of ripe wild strawberry, anise, and fresh herbs. It is elegant and has good concentration, with graceful, fine tannins and notes of wild raspberry, peach, and orange peel. It is clean and has a mouthwatering freshness of acidity. Drink 2024-2036.-Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck

With earthy notes and some rusty tones, the 2020 Barbaresco Rabajà shows generous fruit flavors from a warm growing season. The wine is open and immediate, requiring not much in terms of waiting time. In fact, it is showing very nicely at this young age with cherry, earth and rose-like aromas to close.-Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate

A bright, cherry-flavored red augmented by earth, licorice, tar and mineral notes. Firm, yet well-balanced, with a lingering, focused finish. Shows fine length, which indicates its potential. Best from 2026 through 2042.-Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator