Sottimano Langhe Nebbiolo 2022

I once drank a bottle of Sottimano’s Langhe Nebbiolo and could’ve sworn I saw a bearded Italian god smiling down on me from the clouds up above. Was I inebriated? Surely (otherwise I would question the effectiveness of the product at hand). But any wine that parts the clouds a la Monty Python surely deserves to be drunk again.  So I did drink it again. But this time, I conducted a scientific experiment! Barbaresco’s most famous producer is Gaja. Those wines retail for $300+ a bottle. And they are delicious. So I opened a Gaja, and a Sottimano (this guy). While Gaja held the edge, this bottle of Sottimano came darn close.   And, given the price difference (see below), dare I say the Sottimano is more charming? I dare. And that, my friends, is the point. Dig on in to this every man’s wine of kings (and queens). When I first met Barbaresco grower and producer Andrea Sottimano, he, like many other Nebbiolo producers, was fermenting his wines with skin contact of six to 10 days. This macer