James Suckling (96)

Shows beautiful, ripe cabernet aromas with currants, plums, meat and smoke. Flowers, too. Full body, deep and ripe fruit and exquisite, ripe tannins. Flavorful finish. Tight right now, but shows excellent potential. Best ever. Try after 2024.

Vinous (98)

The 2019 Barolo Cannubi is a powerhouse. A Barolo of real substance and depth, the 2019 packs a huge punch. It offers a great foil to the finesse of Monvigliero. Black cherry, lavender, spice, menthol and leather infuse the 2019 with tons of complexity. Here, too, the tannins are wonderfully integrated into the wine's fabric, but make no mistake about it, the 2019 has a ton of tannin!

Vinous (99)

The 2019 Barolo Monvigliero is a knock-out. What a wine. Rich and layered in the glass, with striking textural intensity, the 2019 unfurls beautifully with a bit of coaxing. All the elements are so well put together for a young wine. Crushed rose petal, mint, sage, rose petal and sweet pipe tobacco lend striking nuance to this dynamic, vibrant Barolo. The 2019 is quite simply magnificent. Its splendor only grows over time.

The Wine Independent (100)

Composed of 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Canon is deep garnet-purple in color. It offers up fragrant notes of mocha, violets, and licorice over a core of plum preserves and wild blueberries, plus a waft of Indian spices. The full-bodied palate is full-on gorgeous, delivering bright, energetic black and blue fruit layers with a lively backbone and super-fine, perfectly ripe tannins, finishing long, long, long.

James Suckling (96)

This is a beautiful Carraudes with currant, sweet-tobacco and wet-earth aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with a dense center-palate and tight, polished tannins. Fresh, with tension. Reminds me of the 1995 Lafite. This is so Lafite in character. It shows so much cabernet sauvignon character. It’s 68% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and the rest cabernet franc. Try after 2026.

James Suckling (96-97)

This is very classically structured with a palate that starts off slowly. Full-bodied and chewy with a soft, creamy texture and a long finish. Savory. A touch austere. 52% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot and 3% cabernet franc, the rest petit verdot.

Jeb Dunnuck (99)

Including slightly more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, the 2018 Château Clinet is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 75% new French oak. One of the superstars of the vintage, it has incredible elegance and finesse as well as gorgeous richness and depth. Notes of cassis and truffly dark fruits as well as tobacco, damp earth, chocolate, and lead pencil shavings emerge from the glass, and it's full-bodied, with a seamless, multi-dimensional texture, gorgeous tannins, and a great, great finish. It already offers incredible pleasure, but it won't hit maturity for another 5-7 years and should evolve for 30 years or more. This magical wine is in the same league as the 2015 and 2016, and drinking these beauties over the coming decades will be an incredible treat.

James Suckling (99)

This is so aromatic with blackcurrants, black berries and raspberries. Pure fruit, together with coffee and nutmeg. Really fresh and clean with bright spices. Full-bodied, yet reserved and tight with fantastic structure. So long. This is a great Cos for the cellar. A real benchmark for the true character. Needs at least five or six years to open and come around. Try after 2029.

James Suckling (99-100)

A very powerful Ducru with intense tannins and backbone, showing blue fruit, black tea and tobacco. Full-bodied with impressive structure and so much tannin. It goes on for minutes. Very traditional. Owner Bruno Borie said it is a wine to last forever and I have to agree. 80% cabernet sauvignon and 20% merlot.

Wine Advocate (92+)

This is a new wine that was only made in this vintage to address low yields and difficult growing conditions. In truth, it was also produced in 2002 for the same reasons. The 2014 Barolo is a blend of Nebbiolo grapes from the Grasso family's best vineyard sites: Casa Maté and Gavarini Chiniera. In a very happy and nostalgic way, this wine brings us back in time to when Barolo was more streamlined and linear in style. The limestone-rich soils of Gavarini Chiniera give the wine its aromatic profile with delicate tones of wild berry and blue flower. The Casa Maté site provides the robust texture and structure you taste here. This wine was designed to be offered at a lower price point (that's great news for us!). It offers an accessible personality that makes it easy to enjoy at your favorite Italian restaurant. I put the plus sign next to my score to underline the value you get here.

Vinous (96)

Grasso's 2017 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is fabulous. In fact, the Gavarini is easily one of the wines of the vintage because it retains all of its classic signatures, which is also the sign of a first-class vineyard. Bright and vibrant in the glass, the Gavarini pulses with energy. Crushed red flowers, mint, chalk, white pepper, cinnamon and orange peel give the 2017 a super-classic Nebbiolo profile, as expressed in a relatively high-altitude site. The precision and finesse of the tannins - so hard to find in 2017- elevates the Gavarini into the realm of the sublime.

Wine Advocate (97)

The last time we saw this iconic wine was in 2013 (a vintage that earned a perfect score). Following up on that success, the Elio Grasso 2015 Barolo Riserva Rüncot is a generous, open-knit Nebbiolo that has much of the warmth and sunshine locked deep within its core. The bouquet reveals broad brush aromas of black fruit, blackberry preserves, smoky tar and baked plum. With 7,000 bottles made, this Riserva is smooth and velvety in texture. There's no reason why it can't hold until the mid-century mark.

Wine Advocate (90+)

I absolutely have a soft spot for the Pelaverga grape that achieves such beautiful, but unusual, characteristics when given the chance. The 2018 Verduno Pelaverga Speziale is a happy and cheerful wine destined for easy-drinking occasions like with pizza or wood-fire flatbread with spicy sausage and broccoli. Native to Verduno in Piedmont, the grape typically shows a strong layer of freshly milled white pepper. That's exactly what you get in this cool and balanced vintage. This is a lean-bodied red to drink within the next 18 months.

Wine Advocate (100)

The Giacomo Conterno 2014 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is made with 100% fruit from the Francia cru, which is not the case for the 2015 vintage (that sees 22% Arione in the blend) or likely future vintages. In a sense, this 100-point wine represents a milestone or a chapter finale in the long and exciting trajectory of Italy's collected and revered Monfortino. I've had the great fortune of tasting this wine from barrel over the course of four years and twice again this summer during my visits to the Conterno estates (in Gattinara and in Monforte d'Alba).

A sophisticated offering from the renowned Italian winemaker Tiziano Grasso, the Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2014 is a remarkable example of an expertly crafted Barolo. Nestled in the heart of Piedmont, Italy, this family-run winery marries traditional techniques with modern sensibility, transforming the region's prized Nebbiolo grapes into a symphony of depth and complexity.

This standout vintage intrigues in the glass with its vibrant crimson hues, commanding the attention of the senses with an opulent bouquet of ripe red fruits, elegant oak and subtle earthy undertones. On the palate, Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2014 resounds with an impressive structure, harmoniously balanced tannins and acidity, prolonging to an enduring, beautifully nuanced finish.

Maturing gracefully since 2014, it tells a sensory story of its sun-drenched terroir, embodying Grasso's attention to detail and masterful winemaking. The Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2014 is a testament to the Grasso family's commitment to excellence, making it a prized addition to any wine collection.

Hailing from the esteemed Barolo region of Italy, the Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2018 invites you on a taste journey boasting of supreme class. Its rich, ruby hues create a tantalising prelude to the complex taste profiles within. Skilfully crafted through traditional winemaking techniques, this robust, Nebbiolo varietal is hand-picked to ensure optimal ripeness - a testament to Tiziano Grasso's artisanal approach.

Maturation in both large and small oak barrels for 30 months bestows upon this Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2018 an exquisite balance of fruit, spice, and smoky undertones. On the palate, sublime layers of red and black cherries, anise, and hints of truffle meld harmoniously, complemented by refined tannins and a seductively long finish. This wine, a product of a cooler vintage, resonates beautifully with connoisseurs seeking elegance and complexity.

From the hands of producer Tiziano Grasso, renowned for his precise crafting, Barolo Briccolina 2018 affirms the artistry of fine Italian winemaking.

Decanter (98)

The clean, fresh aromas of just-picked citrus fruits belie the enormous power of lime juice and rich lemon pith that immediately fills the front palate on this latest vintage. There’s poise in addition to the power though, with multiple layers of rounded citrus and mineral flavours enjoying a luxurious textural roll through the mid-palate. Perfect integration of fresh citric acid carries the pure fruit qualities through extraordinary length to a crisp, lip-smacking finish.

James Suckling (99)

Extremely aromatic, with incredible wet-earth, bark, stone and graphite notes on the nose, then changing to violets, blackberries and blackcurrants. Full-bodied, yet so linear and fine, with titanium tannins that go on so long. Builds and builds then just rolls around the palate through the endless finish. Real Bordeaux here. 56% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot, 4% cabernet franc, and 4% petit verdot. Exceptional. Better after 2029.

James Suckling (95-96)

Plenty of blueberry and chocolate aromas and flavors. It’s full and chewy with a powerful finish. Tar and graphite at the end. Solid core of fruit and tannin here. One of the most structured I have had from here. Cazes family making the difference.

Halliday Wine Companion (99)

Australia's finest single-vineyard site? I think so. With its core of gnarled shiraz vines planted circa 1860 and its picture-perfect location alongside the Gnadenberg church, it is a much adored and discussed vineyard which has been producing stellar wines since the first single-vineyard Hill of Grace was released in 1958. Today, those original vines are bolstered with its 'young' 100+ and 35+yo kinfolk and aged in 83/17% French/American oak hogsheads (29% new) for 18 months. Grace by name, grace by nature; it's a perfectly framed, elegant snapshot of pristine fruit, site and season. Precisely ripened berry fruits are underscored with notes of Chinese five-spice, sage, jasmine, licorice, mocha, blackberry pastille, charcuterie, wild flowers and cherry clafoutis. Pitch-perfect and elegant on the palate, the tannin-acid architecture tuned and sympatico with the pristine ancestor-vine fruit and a very long, silken finish that resonates with style and place. My goodness it's lovely.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

One of the monumental wines in the vintage is the 2016 Château Eglise Clinet from proprietor Denis Durantou. Based on 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, this utterly perfect wine boasts a saturated purple color as well as an essence of Pomerol bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackcurrant liqueur, smoked tobacco, camphor, and graphite. Deep, full-bodied, incredibly powerful, and layered, yet always with class and balance, it offers a remarkable marriage of power and finesse. It’s already sexy and seductive yet also a baby, and needs 7-8 years of cellaring. It should keep for 3-4 decades (probably longer), but why wait?

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2016 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion is blended of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36.5% Merlot and 21.5% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it absolutely sings of red roses, black tea and tilled black soil with a core of crushed blackberries, Morello cherries and cassis plus a hint of cinnamon stick. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers a great intensity of ripe black berries and floral layers, framed by soft, silken tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.

Wine Advocate (95+)

This was the first vintage for the Vauthier family of Château Ausone off this tiny three-hectare estate. Composed of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 85% new, the 2015 La Clotte displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and a very spicy nose of cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and allspice over core of red and black currants, mulberries and black soil plus a waft of violets. Full-bodied and decadently fruited with a firm backbone of very ripe, beautifully velvety tannins, it has a lively backbone providing loads of lift throughout the very long finish.

The Wine Independent (100)

La Mission Haut-Brion 2018 has a deep garnet-purple color. It slowly unfurls to offer notes of blackcurrant cordial, plum preserves, and Morello cherries, leading to hints of menthol, cedar, pencil lead, and roses, plus a touch of unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied, rich and opulent on the palate, it is jam-packed with juicy black fruits and loads of fragrant accents, supported by ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and earthy.

James Suckling (98)

The aromas of stones, oyster shell, blackcurrants and mushrooms are very intense. Full-bodied, dense and powerful with lots of blackberries. Great finish. Super energy and depth. Try in 2022. Fascinating.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

On another level and one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve ever tasted, the 2016 Lafite-Rothschild is composed of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot raised in new oak. It takes the classic elegance and class of Lafite and turns the dial up to 11, offering a massive, heavenly array of blackcurrants, cedar pencil, graphite, tobacco, and incense aromas and flavors that soar from the glass. Deep, full-bodied, and flawlessly constructed, with perfectly integrated fruit, acidity, and tannins, this is legendary stuff all the way. It will be drinkable in 7-8 years and keep for 50-75 years or more. Along with Mouton, it’s the wine of the vintage from the Médoc. Hats off to director Eric Kohler.

Beautiful colour and depth. Black berry and some sloe fruit. Svelte palate and thickly layered texture. Tightly wound but clearly exceptionally crafted. A fine Lafite that lives up to expectations, potentially outperforming its fellow First Growths.

The Wine Independent (100)

Lafleur 2015 is a blend of 51% Merlot and 49% Cabernet Franc and has a medium to deep garnet color. It shoots from the glass with opulent scents of baked blackberries, warm plums, and tar with nuances of violets, licorice, dark chocolate, and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house, featuring firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note.