2020 Paitin Barbaresco Riserva Sori Paitin Nebbiolo 6pk 6x750ml

Paitin is one of Barbaresco's oldest estates — founded in 1796 when Benedetto Elia purchased the farmhouse, cellar, and surrounding vineyards from Luigi Pelissero. By 1893 the family had produced their first Barbaresco Sori Paitin, and by 1898 they were exporting commercially. Today the estate is run by Giovanni and Silvano Pasquero-Elia alongside Giovanni's son Luca, farming organically (fully certified as of 2019) and incorporating biodynamic techniques in the vineyard.

Sori Paitin comes from the most sun-exposed parcel within the Serraboella cru — one of the famed vineyards of Neive. Sori in Piemontese means the spot of the hill where the snow melts first, the prime real estate where nebbiolo ripens most completely. This old-vine Riserva is produced from that same parcel only in the best vintages.

The 2020 vintage is textbook nebbiolo — fresh and balanced with richness, elegance, and structure. The full voice of the grape is on show: tar and iron, white truffles and walnuts, plums and dried strawberries, porcini mushroom and cranberry tea. Full-bodied with plenty of tannins, yet there's a linear tension running through it that provides form and vibrancy. The epitome of savoury austerity, clean and haunting from start to finish.

In the cellar, Paitin follows a traditional protocol with long, gentle macerations — three to eight weeks for the Barbareschi — and aging in large neutral botti from Austrian Stockinger cooperage.

The winery returned to classical roots after a brief flirtation with modern techniques in the 1990s, extending maceration and introducing submerged cap management to tease every ounce of complexity in a cool, controlled manner.

The result is a Riserva that marries old-world rigor with the 2020 vintage's freshness and drinkability — a wine that has both pleasure and the structure to cellar a decade or more.