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• Score: 97 Vintage 2020 Vinous The 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is another stellar wine in this range. Dark and explosive, the 2021 possesses notable richness to match its dark, brooding personality. Black cherry, plum, leather, cloves, menthol, licorice and gravel explode onto the palate. The 2020 will require a measure of patience, but it has a ton of potential. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2020 The Wine Advocate In this vintage, the Rabajà was served last in a series of nine Riservas; that's because it shows the most structure and power over a very defined and sharp mouthfeel. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is streamlined and tight and a wine of enormous energy. The fruit is crunchy and tight with cassis and blackberry. A pretty mineral note defines Rabajà, giving it a chalky or powdery sensations on the close. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 98 Vintage 2019 Wine Enthusiast This wine is a vintage car. Elegant and sleek, a design that fits the modern world, thought its a classic. A power that lurks underneath the hood that when let lose, cannot be bottled again. This is a wine of beauty, depth and power. Dark cherries and plums laced with sweet and tangy spices evolve into blue violets and wild herbs. The palate is rich and giving, with warmed fruit compotes that are hemmed in by vibrant acidity and the most elegant tannins that feel like the perfect leather seat as you prepare to start the engine. Drink Now until there is no more. — Jeff Porter Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 96 Vintage 2019 James Suckling Vivid medium ruby color. The wine is finely tuned, with sweet violets, leafy lightness and red currants. Medium-bodied on the palate with violet notes, velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a long, crisp finish. There is sternness here but personality. Will need time to evolve. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2019 Wine Spectator This red exhibits a mix of cherry, strawberry, orange peel, camphor, iron and tobacco flavors. Though backed by burly tannins, this remains linear and long, with the fruit returning in the end. Shows terrific balance and length overall. Best from 2028 through 2045. —B.S. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2019 Vinous Media The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is redolent of dark fruit, crushed rocks, graphite, sage, menthol and lavender all race across the palate, supported by bracing, young Rabajà tannins that make themselves felt. This mid-weight, powerhouse Barbaresco packs quite a punch. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2017 James Suckling Lots of white-truffle, ripe-strawberry and crushed-stone character. Full-bodied with a focused and pinpointed palate of flavors similar to the aromas. The tannins are polished and beautiful. Very elegant and sophisticated Rabaja. Drink after 2025 and onwards. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 96 Vintage 2017 Wine Advocate The Produttori del Barbaresco 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is another spectacular release from this cooperative winery that hits it out of the ballpark with each set of new releases. That impressive track record includes this wine that delivers extreme focus, depth and integrity. The bouquet is very clear cut with dark cherry, tart plum, spice and blood orange, but it is also complex and fluid. It offers new perspectives with each swirl of the glass. From a hot vintage, the Rabajà is smooth, powerful and balanced. I would bet on long aging for this bottle. 14,438 bottles were produced. Produttori del Barbaresco has been hitting it out of the ballpark these past years with a string of excellent vintages that resulted in the production of their entire line of Riservas. However, that good momentum comes to an end because the Riservas were not made in 2018. That vintage saw all the fruit blended into one non-MGA Barbaresco. And with the 2017 Riservas reviewed here, you might find these bottles hard to find. Production was 30% lower in this growing season because of a very careful fruit selection process. In fact, Aldo Vacca calls 2017 a "roller coaster vintage with frost, then hail, then a summer drought." Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2017 Wine Spectator Dense, featuring fruit flavors of plum, cherry and raspberry, with accents of tar, eucalyptus and iron. A powerful red that needs time to resolve the muscular tannins, with plenty of ripe fruit coursing underneath. Best from 2026 through 2043. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2017 Wine Enthusiast This fragrant, fullbodied red has aromas of iris, woodland berry, dark spice and cedar. Firmly structured but also showing finesse, the savory palate exhibits fleshy raspberry, ripe black cherry and licorice framed in tightly knit, fine-grained tannins. Best from 2024 to 2029. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2017 Vinous Media The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a potent, searingly tannic wine that will need a few years to come together. Brooding and backward, even for young Rabajà, the 2017 is painfully young today. It will be interesting to see what time brings. Today, the 2017 is a real powerhouse. Black fruit, menthol, licorice, melted road tar, game and menthol develop in the glass, but only with great reluctance. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 98 Vintage 2016 Wine Advocate Rabajà is known for its precision and extreme balance, and these qualities are especially pronounced in this excellent vintage. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a gorgeous wine, and one that is offered at an unbelievably low price, especially considering the quality and depth you are given here. Sheer elegance is the impression you get upon first inspection, and the bouquet opens gradually to embrace wild berry, cherry, white stone, light spice, tar and hint of toasted hazelnut. Quite a few families contribute fruit for this blend: Antona, Arossa, Bianco, Casetta, Lembo, Lignana, Manzone, Vacca and Vezza. 12,826 bottles were made this vintage. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 98 Vintage 2016 Vinous Media The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is brooding in its intensity. Swaths of tannin, acid and mineral notes infuse the 2016 with striking gravitas. A wine of staggering proportion and breathtaking beauty, the Rabajà is the sort of wine I wish every Vinous reader could taste because it captures the essence of place and vintage with so much pedigree and so much class. Black cherry, sage, crushed rocks, menthol and lavender are some of the many nuances that linger on the eternal finish. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2016 Wine Spectator There is purity and definition to the rose, cherry, strawberry and spice aromas and flavors in this red. Draped on an elegant profile, with a terrific mineral underpinning. Harmony and finesse renders this red approachable now, yet this will improve with a few years of aging. Best from 2025 through 2047. 1,617 cases made, 300 cases imported. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2016 Wine Enthusiast Mature berry, pipe tobacco and violet aromas waft out of the glass on this full-bodied red along with a whiff of new leather. Firmly structured and austere, the muscular, fullbodied palate presents dried cherry, blood orange and licorice framed in tightly knit, close-grained tannins. You’ll also notice the warmth of alcohol on the close. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2015 Wine Spectator Though rich, this red offers bright acidity and dense tannins that lend a sense of tightness, with pure cherry, strawberry and floral flavors that are persistent from start to lingering finish, where distinct spice and mineral elements play out. Best from 2023 through 2045. 1,342 cases made, 275 cases imported. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2015 Wine Spectator Though rich, this red offers bright acidity and dense tannins that lend a sense of tightness, with pure cherry, strawberry and floral flavors that are persistent from start to lingering finish, where distinct spice and mineral elements play out. Best from 2023 through 2045. 1,342 cases made, 275 cases imported. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2015 Wine Advocate The Produttori del Barbaresco 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is a stunning wine. The aromas rise from the glass with purpose, clarity and extreme definition. This is indeed a very special wine, thanks to the direct and linear quality of fruit and the elegant tannins that build the long finish. The Nebbiolo grape is elevated to a beautiful plain or plateau, where it shows off its naked beauty in a clear and unobstructed manner. The wine affords us a panoramic view of the Piedmont grape, planted in the white tuffaceous marl soils of Rabajà. Exactly 16,104 bottles were made. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 96 Vintage 2015 Wine Enthusiast Wild berry, violet, face powder and eucalyptus aromas lift out of the glass. On the youthfully austere, structured palate, tightly knit but noble tannins wrap around black cherry, raspberry, licorice and crushed mint. Give this a few more years to fully develop. Drink 2025–2035. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2015 Vinous Media The 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà is one of the most tannic and explosive of these wines, as it so often is. Even with the heat of the vintage, the tannic bite and energy of Rabajà come through loud and clear. In the early going, though, the Rabajà appears to be one of the wines in this range most adversely affected by its relatively recent bottling. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2014 Wine Enthusiast Forest floor, new leather, rose and red-berry aromas mingle with a whiff of camphor. Youthfully austere, the taut palate shows serious aging potential, presenting juicy cherry, cranberry, star anise and orange slice set against tightly knit, noble tannins and firm acidity. Drink 2022–2034. KERIN O’KEEFE Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 96 Vintage 2014 Wine Advocate The 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà shows excellent textural richness with dark fruit, followed by notes of tobacco and tilled earth. Black truffle and dried fruit converge on the bouquet to add to the intensity. You really appreciate the freshness and sheer power of this succulent, well-structured and medium to full-bodied Barbaresco. This one's the real deal. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2014 Wine Spectator This red is opulent and lushly textured, providing a backdrop for pure cherry, black currant, floral and graphite flavors. There's a firm grip and plenty of energy here, building to the long, mineral-tinged finish. Best from 2022 through 2042. 1,442 cases made, 377 cases imported. — BS Shelf Talker Full Page Review