The Basarin vineyard was badly damaged by hail in April 2017, but we have this beautiful vintage to focus on instead. The Sottimano 2016 Barbaresco Basarin is a contained and elegant expression with sharp intensity and defined aromas. You get wild fruit, spice, balsam herb and crushed mineral, all pretty much in equal measure. The wine flexes its muscle, adding volume and weight with each swirl of the glass. It shows energy and fluid movements. Sottimano farms a three-hectare plot in Basarin, in Neive but near the border with Treiso, with 50- to 60-year-old vines. Some 5,000 bottles were made. There is a wholeness to this vintage that you don't get in 2017.- ML

Focused and full bodied, this has aromas of underbrush, eucalyptus, crushed botanical herb and wild rose. The chiseled palate delivers tension, structure and finesse, featuring cranberry, pomegranate, licorice and tobacco framed in tightly wound, fine-grained tannins. Youthfully nervous acidity gives it balance and an ageworthy structure. Drink 2024–2036. KERIN O’KEEFE

The Sottimano family produce four Barbaresco single-vineyard wines - Basarin in Neive being a new addition from the 2014 vintage. The wines are aged in barriques, but the proportion of new oak has been severely reduced in recent years. This is no blockbuster, and the lean, precise raspberry nose shows elegance rather than power. A stylish wine, it's fresh and fluid with refined tannins and no overt extraction, showing charm and lift on the long finish.