Italy · Langhe

Azienda Agricola Sottimano

Family Barbaresco estate farming five separate single-vineyard crus across Neive and Treiso, making 100% Nebbiolo wines by native yeast fermentation and long maceration, bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The producer

Sottimano assembled its range one parcel at a time across five decades. Rino Sottimano acquired the first vineyard, Cottà, in 1969 after finishing his oenological studies, formally established the winery in 1974, and kept adding individual named crus rather than building volume. By 2014, when Basarin became the fifth cru on the Neive-Treiso border at high altitude, the estate covered roughly 19 hectares across the two subzones. Three children, Andrea, Elena, and Claudia, now co-manage alongside Rino.

The cellar approach runs counter to the interventionist model that dominated Piemonte when Rino trained: spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts, long skin maceration on Nebbiolo, French oak aging weighted heavily toward used barrels (90% used up to four times, 10% new), no fining, and no filtration. Each of the five crus is vinified identically and bottled separately, so the differences between the wines come from site, altitude, and vine age rather than from adjustments in the cellar. Annual production runs to approximately 85,000 bottles across the five labels.

Known for

Single-vineyard Barbaresco DOCG; native yeast fermentation; unfined and unfiltered

Notable facts

The story

The Fifth Cru

In 2014, Sottimano added a fifth parcel to a range that had been four bottles deep for years. The vineyard was Basarin, on the border between Neive and Treiso at altitude, and the vines were already formed: the oldest had been in the ground for sixty years. Rino Sottimano did not plant Basarin. He acquired a piece of Langhe history that another family had kept going across six decades, with the root systems, the vine memory, and the character already in place. When the first harvest came in from the high position, the wine announced itself differently from the four Neive-anchored crus already in the range: cooler, more herbal, the spice note more prominent, and the tannin arriving with a velvety persistence the lower-lying sites did not produce in quite the same way. The fifth argument was already in the ground, waiting to be picked.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Sottimano

At A Glance

The Producer

Sottimano farms five parcels in the Barbaresco DOCG zone of Piemonte, each bottled separately under the vineyard name. Rino Sottimano acquired the first parcel, Cottà, in 1969 after finishing his oenological studies, formally established the winery in 1974, and spent the following decades buying individual named crus rather than building volume. By 2014, when he acquired Basarin as the fifth and final cru, the estate covered roughly 19 hectares across the Neive and Treiso subzones. Three children, Andrea, Elena, and Claudia, now co-manage alongside him.

The five labels are not a range with a house style at the bottom and a prestige tier at the top. Each bottle is the complete expression of one parcel, made the same way, bottled separately. That decision shapes everything: 85,000 bottles from 19 hectares across five Barbaresco crus is not a large output per vineyard, and it means the wines stay parcel-specific rather than blended toward consistency.

Place

Barbaresco DOCG is a red wine appellation in the Langhe hills of Piemonte, east of the Tanaro river. The grape is Nebbiolo, a variety that ripens late, carries firm tannin and high acidity, and shifts in character sharply with altitude, aspect, and subzone soil. Barbaresco DOCG law requires a minimum of nine months in oak and two years total aging before release. Sottimano extends the aging cycle with approximately one year of bottle aging before release.

The appellation divides loosely into three subzones: Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso. Sottimano's vineyards span Neive and Treiso. Neive parcels, Cottà, Fausoni, and Currà, sit in the eastern part of the zone. Treiso lies to the south at generally higher elevation. Basarin sits on the exact boundary between Neive and Treiso at altitude, a position that pushes the aromatic character of the wine toward cooler, more herbal territory than the rounder, more fruit-forward profiles of the valley floor.

Soil And Site

The Langhe hills around Barbaresco are built primarily on calcareous marl and clay, the same broad geology that underlies the Barolo zone to the southwest. Altitude within this landscape is a significant variable: higher positions produce cooler nights and slower ripening, which preserves acidity and shifts the aromatic register toward herbs, spice, and balsam rather than richer fruit.

Basarin occupies a specific altitude and border position. The vines at acquisition in 2014 ranged from 25 to 60 years old, meaning the older sections were planted in the mid-1950s. A vine of that age has deep root access and a natural tendency toward lower yields and more concentrated fruit, without any farming intervention required to achieve it.

Story

Rino Sottimano trained as an oenologist at a time when interventionist winemaking was the dominant model in Piemonte: selected yeasts, short macerations, heavy new oak, early fining and filtration. His eventual cellar approach inverts every one of those choices. The path from formal training to native yeast fermentation, long skin maceration, minimal new oak, no fining, and no filtration was not a sudden conversion. The estate adopted organic farming in 1990, which places the earliest committed step about sixteen years after the winery's founding.

The range built slowly around the same principle: one cru at a time, each vinified separately. Cottà came first in 1969. Pajoré, Fausoni, and Currà followed across the subsequent decades. Basarin arrived in 2014, the fifth and final piece. The children's involvement deepened as the fifth cru was added: Andrea, Elena, and Claudia now manage parcels that include vines their father planted in the 1970s and 1980s, some more than 40 years in the ground.

Vineyards And Cellar

Fermentation at Sottimano is spontaneous, driven by the native yeasts present on the grape skins rather than added commercial cultures. Maceration on the skins runs long by Piemontese standards, which extracts more tannin and phenolic material from Nebbiolo than a shorter contact time would. Barbaresco DOCG Basarin shows lingering, velvety tannins with a spice note.

Aging moves to French oak barrels after malolactic fermentation. Ten percent of the barrels are new; ninety percent have been used up to four times previously. The proportion of used wood keeps the oak influence low: four-times-used barrels give almost no vanilla or toasty character and function more as micro-oxygenation vessels than flavour contributors. The wine stays on its lees throughout the barrel period, which adds weight and some textural richness to the finish. Before bottling, no fining agents are added and no filtration takes place, so what goes into the bottle is what the barrel held.

Wines

All five wines are Barbaresco DOCG, 100% Nebbiolo, bottled individually from their named crus.

Cottà is the original estate vineyard in Neive, acquired in 1969, with the oldest family-planted vines on the property. Fausoni and Currà are also in Neive. Pajoré is in Treiso. Basarin, the youngest addition, sits on the Neive-Treiso boundary at high altitude, with vines between 25 and 60 years old.

Because each cru is made identically in the cellar, the differences between the bottles come from site, not from changes in winemaking. Altitude, aspect, soil depth, and vine age vary by parcel, and those variables express themselves in the glass. Basarin, at the highest position on the most exposed border, carries the coolest aromatic signature of the five: pronounced balsamic herbs and spice on the nose, with wild fruit and intense floral notes on the palate, and a finish pulled long by both acidity and velvety tannin. The other four crus have sourced subzone positions but no comparative sensory benchmarks confirmed from the same research base.

Production across the five labels totals approximately 85,000 bottles per year from 19 hectares, a moderate density that keeps individual cru volumes small.

In The Glass

Barbaresco DOCG Basarin opens with balsamic herbs and layered spice, a cool-climate aromatic register shaped by altitude and border position. On the palate, wild fruit and intense floral notes arrive first, followed by the tannin: velvety in texture rather than coarse, but persistent, running through to a long finish marked by a trailing spice note. Acidity holds everything in place, keeping the wine alive and giving it the capacity to age. The lees contact during barrel aging adds a quiet fullness to the mid-palate without heaviness, and the absence of fining and filtration means the wine has a slightly unpolished, direct character that changes in bottle over time.

Nebbiolo from high altitude with long maceration and minimal new oak lands in this register: herbal before fruity, firm before soft, precise on the finish before it gives up the spice. The wine asks for time in bottle and rewards it.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Barbaresco DOCG Basarin. It is 100% Nebbiolo from the estate's fifth and most recently acquired cru, on the Neive-Treiso border at high altitude, with vines between 25 and 60 years old. The altitude and border position set the character: balsamic herbs and spice on the nose, wild fruit and floral lift on the palate, velvety tannins that carry a persistent spice note through to the finish. The cellar work adds minimal distraction: native yeast fermentation, long maceration, mostly used French oak, no fining, no filtration. What reaches the glass is Nebbiolo and site, with almost no production overlay.

The bottle also carries the full production cycle: at least two years of aging by DOCG law, plus approximately one year in bottle before release. Young vintages will be firm; older ones will show the softening of tannin and the opening of the balsamic and herbal notes.

Anecdote

In 2014, Sottimano added a fifth cru to a range that had been four bottles deep for years. The parcel was Basarin, on the border between the Neive and Treiso subzones at altitude, and the vines were already formed: the oldest had been in the ground for 60 years. Sottimano did not plant Basarin; he inherited a piece of Langhe history that another family had kept going across six decades. When the first harvest came in from the high-altitude site, the wine announced itself differently from the four Neive-anchored bottles already in the range: cooler in register, more herbal, the spice note more prominent and the tannin arriving with a velvety persistence that the lower-valley sites did not produce in quite the same way. The 2014 acquisition gave the estate a fifth argument, and the character of that argument was already in the ground, waiting.

Final Word

Sottimano is a Barbaresco producer that has built its range one parcel at a time, bottled each one separately, and kept the cellar work minimal enough that the differences between crus remain audible in the glass. Five single-vineyard Barbarescos from 19 hectares, all 100% Nebbiolo, all made the same way: the range is a direct comparison of what Neive and Treiso produce from different altitudes, aspects, and vine ages. Basarin, the newest and highest, is where to begin.

Sources

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