The Sori Rio Sordo Barbaresco shows a complex nose with aromas of licorice and forest berries, cinnamon, cloves and violet. Full, enveloping tannins with a long finish, recalling ripe fruit. Because of its structure and body, it pairs well with meat, game and cheese.
The Rio Sordo vineyard is located in the Barbaresco municipality. The soils are known as white marl of Saint Agatha and go back to the Tortonian-Messinian period.
Carefully selected grapes are de-stemmed and pressed. Maceration lasts about 15 days at a maximum temperature of 30°C. Natural malolactic fermentation ends before winter is over. Aged 24 months in 25 hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels with a portion of it part aged in barrique. The wine is further aged in-bottle for at least ten months.
The Ca' Rome' 2016 Barbaresco Rio Sordo opens to great aromatic intensity with dark fruit, dried cherry, licorice and crushed limestone. These classic traits are very in line with the vintage, and they reflect Nebbiolo from Barbaresco. The tannins are silky and firm, but they are also well integrated into the texture of the wine. The wine ages in barrique for eight months followed by 12 months in Slavonian oak, and this process adds to the volume and layering you get in Rio Sordo.
93 points, Wine Advocate (July 2020)
This has a riper, earthier scent than most 2016 Barbarescos at this stage, trading in notes of leather, tar, tobacco and dried fruit. It’s stocky and chunky, framing brambly, chewy tannins. Long and forthcoming on the finish.
92 points, JamesSuckling.com (August 2019)
A pristine red, displaying great clarity to the strawberry, cherry, rose and menthol flavors. By the time this evolves to the finish, the tannins make their mark, yet never overstep their bounds. In the end this is balanced, expressive and set to develop.
95 points, Wine Spectator
