BARBARESCO Cottá Sottimano 2017 vs GIGONDAS Les Hautes Garrigues Domaine Santa Duc 2020
Compare current tracked prices, stockists and core specifications.
| Availability | In stock | In stock |
|---|---|---|
| Best current price | £65.95 | £65.95 |
| Current stockists | 1 merchant | 1 merchant |
| Style | Other | Other |
| Grape | Nebbiolo | Grenache, Mourvèdre |
| Region | Barbaresco | — |
| ABV | 14% | 14.5% |
| Size | 750ml | 750ml |
| Where to buy |
BARBARESCO Cottá Sottimano 2017
Drawing its fruit from a 2.8-hectare section of the Cottà cru in Neive with 50- to 60-year-old vines, this is a classic offering from Sottimano. The 2017 Barbaresco Cottá unfolds to beautiful intensity and depth. The Neive area suffered hail damage on April 15th, and we are lucky that this parcel was spared, enough so to render a 9,000-bottle release. This estate believes in long maceration times (the wine stays on the skins for up to 40 days) with no selected yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is allowed to happen at its own pace in French barrel, and the wine ages up to 24 months, with lees contact for about half that time. The approach is traditional and straightforward, resulting in a wine that is focused, detailed and polished with bright cherry fruit, licorice and campfire ash. I love the intensity you get here.
GIGONDAS Les Hautes Garrigues Domaine Santa Duc 2020
My Christmas wine this year will be the Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues 2020. It is a bottle I have kept in the cellar for over a year now, since I bought it while waiting for the right occasion. This wine is robust and intense, so a little aging is often beneficial to achieve greater harmony and integration. It is a complex wine made from 50 percent mourvedre and 50 percent grenache from old vines, aged in large casks and clay amphorae, mostly whole-bunch fermented, and biodynamically grown. I tasted it on another occasion last year, and I can imagine how it will have evolved by now. It will pair perfectly with the truffled venison stew I will be cooking for Christmas lunch. Harmony through complexity and a touch of patience. Merry Christmas! Kevin Davy, Tasting Manager James Suckling.com's staff Christmas picks.
Prices and availability reflect the latest tracked merchant checks and may change before checkout.