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Ever since the first single-cru example was made in 1967, the name "Rabajà" has stirred the souls of Barbaresco lovers, becoming synonymous with Barbaresco of soaring richness and expression.
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Ca du Rabaja Barbaresco 'Vigneto Rabaja' DOCG 2007
Region: Langhe, ITALY
Varietal: 100% Nebbiolo (30 to 65 years of age)
Price: $62/btl, 750ml (not including HST)
Format: 6 x 750ml
Availability: 3 cases
Drink: 2011-2025
92 points, John Szabo MS:
"Produced from vines aged 30-65 years old, grown in the marley-clay soils of the Rabajà cru vineyard and aged in 55hl cask of French and Slovenian oak. This young wine needs a good dose of aeration to emerge, and eventually sweet red fruit comes out, very floral, in a classic nebbiolo mould. The palate is pure seduction, silky, firm, grippy-dusty tannins, sweet but not jammy fruit, perfectly ripe, with lovely old wood spice flavours. A refined wine that is pleasurable now, but will also age nicely over the next decade." - Tasted January 2011
93 points, Anthony Gismondi:
"Drinkable is not a word I associate with young Barbaresco and never with any sourced from the famous vigneto Rabajà but it is the story of Renzo Alutto's wines. Balance, minerality, fruit and well managed tannins stick out like a sore thumb as does the absence of Brettanomyces. A simply delicious, round, ready-to-explore Barbaresco with a range of spiced red fruits flecked with citrus and even bits of mocha. Alutto says it will go the distance through 2025 but really, you can savour the odd bottle now with piece of Reggiano. Great value." - Tasted October 2010 |
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Each of the world's great wine regions possesses vineyards that transcend all the others.
Particularly profound examples include the Côte d'Or's Le Musigny and Le Montrachet; Chablis' Les Clos; Champagne's Clos du Mesnil and Clos des Goisses; Barolo's Cascina Francia and Collina Rionda, and Côte-Rôtie's La Landonne and La Mouline.
Barbaresco, too, has its iconic sites, and arguably the greatest of these is Rabajà, a providential south-facing slope next to Asili.
For decades, the Aluttos' fruit was blended with grapes from other members of the Produttori del Barbaresco, to produce the Produttori's vaunted Rabajà Riserva. But, by the early 2000s, Giovanni Alutto began to think seriously about making his own wine from his prized vines in Rabajà - allowing this unique terroir to express itself for the first time on its own.
Giovanni Alutto died suddenly in 2004, leaving the vineyard - and this important decision - in the hands of his son, Lorenzo. "Renzo" acted quickly, creating Ca' du Rabajà the very same year. Renzo's decision was one of great significance for lovers of Barbaresco. For one thing, it created an important new domaine. But perhaps even more significantly,it gives us our first chance to experience this crown jewel of Rabajà, unblended, as a pure expression of a uniquely great terroir.
 To help him in his work, Renzo has enlisted his old friend, Dante Scaglione, who, after 16 years as cellar-master for Bruno Giacosa, has become one of the giants of traditional winemaking in the Langhe. Together, they created a classic, old-style vinification for Ca du Rabaja, using long macerations and aging only in large botti.
But like every great vineyard, some sections are better than others. And the greatest part of Rabajà has always been considered its western third, which forms a natural amphitheatre with Asili. This is the part that Renato Ratti, the historian of the Langhe, singled out as the greatest terroir in all of Barbaresco. And a considerable part of this section - a massive 5.5 acres - is owned by the Alutto family.
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