Paitin di Pasquero-Elia 'Sori Paitin' Barbaresco 2020

2020 'Sori Paitin' Barbaresco 95VM/94+WA
Paitin
Barbaresco, Piemonte

$57.98
$54.99 on 3+ (code: 3saves3)

95 Vinous (Galloni)
The 2020 Barbaresco Sorì Paitin is a regal, elegant wine. Powerful yet delicate, with tons of understated power, the Sorì Paitin is a textbook example of what fine Barbaresco can be. Sweet red cherry fruit, kirsch, mint, blood orange, spice, hard candy and orange peel soar out of the glass, framed by silky yet incisive young Nebbiolo tannins. The balance here is just sublime. For my money, this is the Paitin Barbaresco to buy in 2020.
- By Antonio Galloni on September 2023
Readers will find an expanding range at Paitin, including a number of new wines that are noteworthy. The 2021 Nebbiolo harvest started on October 6 and ended on the 14th, a fairly compact range by the estate’s historical standards. The wines spent anywhere from a few weeks to a month on the skins. Aging is around 18 months in cask for the Barbarescos, naturally a bit longer for the Riserva. I also had a chance to revisit the 2020 Barbarescos. I am happy to report those wines were as impressive as they were last year.

94+pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the local dialect, a "sorì" refers to the top of a hill that gets the most sunlight. The 2020 Barbaresco Serraboella Sorì Paitin is a special selection of fruit from a pinpoint area within this greater cru site in the village of Neive. Certified for organics, it does indeed show slightly riper and sweeter fruit, which is expected given the very warm temperatures seen during this growing season. This wine does not have the same austerity that we get in the wider selection from Serraboella. Instead, this bottle offers a softly layered expression with cassis, red rose, peony, apricot, spice and iodine. Exactly 11,794 bottles were released.

Winery: The Sorì Paitin belongs to the Pasquero-Elia heirs since 1796. It is the Serraboella warmest slope, graced with unique soils that since ages is planted with Nebbiolo. Sorì means the first place where the snow melts with the first winter sun rays. Ancient rule to select the best plots for Nebbiolo. Serraboella is the most famous cru in the Southern Neive. A long hill exposed to West that gently bends towards South getting steeper. On this very side: the steepest and the warmest, our Barbaresco has a unique expression. Power, volume are laced by a elegant texture.

VINEYARD: Vines planted 1953-1980, Sourced from selection massale vines in the Sori Paitin section of the Serraboella cru in Neive facing south-southwest at 290 to 310 meters elevation.
SOIL: Sand and marl stratification called Formazioni di Lequio
VITICULTURE: Hand-harvested. Practicing organic. Practicing biodynamic.
WINEMAKING: Nebbiolo is all vinified with the same philosophy: subject to pressing and destemming then he ferments and macerate from 3 to 6 weeks in stainless steel, than it finishes the maceration with the ancient technique of the submerged cap.
AGING: At the end of the winter he is brought to the wood barrels where he stays around 1 year and a half or 2 years when his structure asks. Barrels volume vary between 25 to 50 hectoliters, made of Slavonian and Austrian oak with an age of 15 years