Jeb Dunnuck (98+)

I was able to taste the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino three times for this report, and it’s one of the great wines of the vintage. It takes on a bit more muscular style for the Poggio di Sotto estate, but it retains the DNA of the estate at large with its outstanding clarity. It’s medium ruby-colored and reveals notes of pure cherry, anise, wildflowers, wet stone, and tea leaf. Structured and long on the palate, it has ripe, chiseled tannins, a balanced spine of acidity, and notes of salted orange through the finish, with a long-lasting perfume. Its transparency, balanced with its complexity, makes this one of the most intriguing wines, and if stored properly, it will only improve with time in the cellar.

Vinous (96)

A dark, towering wine, the 2005 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is quite similar in style and personality than the straight Brunello, but it has more of a tannic spine and greater overall structure. Dark and mysterious, the 2005 is constantly changing in the glass. I imagine it will still be fabulous at age 30. This is an especially dark, almost exotic, Brunello.

Vinous (94+)

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota continues this tasting of frankly awe-inspiring wines. Rich, deep and super-expressive, the 2016 hits all the right notes. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, licorice emerge, but only with great reluctance. The Muncagota is another wine in this range that clearly needs time.

Vinous (96)

The 2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione is ample, rich and quite seductive, which is to say very much in the style of the year. Dark red fruit, spice, leather, tobacco and incense all build as the 2017 shows off its considerable allure. This is so expressive today.

Indulge your palate with the sublime Rivetto Barolo Briccolina 2013. This meticulously crafted vintage originates from Serralunga d'Alba, a prime wine-producing region in Piedmont, Italy, reputed for its top-tier Nebbiolo grapes. Rivetto Barolo Briccolina unfolds an enchanting blend of strength, complexity, and aromatic richness, all testament to the artisanal mastery of Rivetto winemakers, who combine traditional and progressive wine-making techniques harmoniously.

Undergoing 40 days maceration and aged in French barriques for a majestic 30 months, this wine epitomises the natural alchemy that only time can deliver. Savour the intoxicating aromatics from black cherry to roses, coupled with an exquisite mineral undertone. Its long finish teases your palate with gentle tannins for an unforgettable experience.

Rivetto, as a biodynamic winery, has successfully encapsulated respect for its natural resources and passion in every bottle. The Rivetto Barolo Briccolina 2013 is indeed a celebration of Rivetto's commitment to integrity, quality and sustainable viticulture practices.

Indulge in the exquisite splendour of Rivetto Barolo Briccolina 2014, a shining specimen from the illustrious Piedmont region of Italy. Expertly crafted by the respected Rivetto family, pioneers of biodynamic viticulture, this wine is a high-quality representation of the Nebbiolo grape variety. Each bottle encapsulates the distinct terroir of the Briccolina vineyard, an exclusive monopole marking the highest eastern point of Serralunga d'Alba.

Through biodynamic techniques and stringent selection, the hand-harvested fruit is vinified over 12 days in wooden vats before ageing for 40 months in large Slavonian oak barrels. The resulting wine presents a complex palette, expressing a rich intensity of elegant tannins, hinting at aromatic notes of black cherry and wild herbs.

Make no mistake, Rivetto Barolo Briccolina 2014 is a captivating wine that offers a generous palate, rich in flavour yet graced with a beautiful finesse. Enjoy now or savour its evolution over the years to come.

Vinous (96)

Roagna's 2004 Barbaresco Crichët Pajè is every bit as impressive as it was upon release, if not moreso. Still vibrant and explosive, the 2004 soars from the glass with a stunning bouquet redolent of crushed berry fruit, rose petal, tar, lavender and menthol. The 2004 is fabulous today. Amazingly it might still need a few years in bottle to be accessible.

Vinous (94)

The 2015 Barolo Pira Vecchie Viti needs a bit of time in the glass for an initial whiff of reduction to blow off. As it often is, the Pira Vecchie Viti is an exotic wine built on an intriguing mix of aromatic presence and understated structure. In 2015, the two Pira Barolos are not as different as they usually are. While the Vecchie Viti has terrific persistence, it also is a bit fleeting for this wine.

James Suckling (97)

Very subtle aromas of dried strawberry with cedar and flowers that follow through to a full body with tight, linear tannins that are focused and polished. Earth, spice and stone undertones. Extremely firm and long. Succulent. Racy and driven. Needs four or five years to open.

James Suckling (98)

Extremely perfumed and beautiful, offering rose-petal and lavender aromas with some tar to the ripe cherries. Some spice, such as nutmeg, as well as light hazelnut. Fresh. Full-bodied, very tight and compact with firmness and wonderful length and focus. Consistent drive through the center of the wine. Better after 2025.

Vinous (95)

Voerzio's 2015 Barolo Fossati is gorgeous. As always, the Fossati has a slightly nervous quality to its tannins. In this vintage, that's a plus, as it gives the wine tension, energy and focus, all of which work so well in balancing the natural radiance of the fruit. This mid-weight Barolo packs plenty of punch and depth/

Vinous (94)

The 2011 Barolo Riserva 10 Anni Case Nere wraps around the palate with stunning, utterly sensual beauty. Sweet floral notes meld into expressive red stone fruits in a lifted, perfumed Barolo built on aromatics and silkiness. Exotic orange peel and tangerine notes add brightness on the finish.

James Suckling (98)

Sweet berry with light tar and hazelnut on the nose. It’s full-bodied with creamy, chewy tannins that are fine-grained and lead you down to a long, energetic finish. It goes on and on. Drink after 2025.

Vinous (97)

The 2018 Baffonero is a worthy follow up to the 2017. Whereas so many 2018s lean towards the more gracious end of the spectrum, Baffonero packs quite a punch, albeit in the slightly more restrained style of the year. Inky, exotically ripe dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, spice, new leather and lavender all build as this exuberant, Maremma red shows off its undeniable allure. Baffonero, 100% Merlot, emerges from a 3.5 hectares planted in 1999, which have recently been supplanted by another hectare or so of vineyards. In 2018, a cool growing season without excessive heat, rare in this part of Tuscany, resulted in a long growing cycle. There was some rain early on, especially during flowering, but that, along with moderate temperatures, helped the vines from going into heat stress, which is always the risk on the Tuscan coast. Harvest for the Merlot was about ten days later than normal. The 2018 was vinified in cement, followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel. Aging was 18-20 months in French oak, about 80% new.

Vinous (97)

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Filo di Seta is a remarkably pretty and pure expression of the vintage. It impresses with a lifted yet stimulating display of bright red fruits and savory spice, framed by notes of crushed stone, animal musk and dusty florals. This boasts striking depth and elegant textures, all offset by a mix of tart wild berries and cool-toned acids, as salty minerals create an almost-crunchy feel toward the close. The tannins are firm yet rounded, displaying tremendous balance and length, as the 2016 Filo di Seta never grows tiring or youthfully clenched. That said, the best is yet to come for this complex and age-worthy effort.

Vinous (98)

After tasting and loving the annata, I had high expectations for the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Filo di Seta Riserva. This is youthfully restrained and grumbling in the glass, but it’s worth waiting for, as a captivating display of mentholated herbs, dusty rose, lavender, black cherries, hints of animal musk and crushed ashen stone evolves before your eyes. It’s deeply textural and polished in feel, but also full of zesty, cooling acidity that enlivens the sultry core of dark fruits and exotic spices. A saturation of tannin coats the palate, creating a massively structured and long finale with lingering remnants of salted licorice and inner violet tones. The 2016 Riserva Filo di Seta may be a masterpiece in the making, though it will be many years before it shows all of its hidden beauty.

Vinous (96)

The 2019 La Ricolma is a dark, sumptuous wine. Black cherry, plum, licorice, cloves and incense power through. Ricolma, like the other 2019s, needs time to open, as it is quite compact and tannic at this early stage. There's good depth in the glass, if not quite the finesse of recent years. The 2019 spent 22 months in French oak, 20-25% new.

The Wine Independent (100)

This 2019 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia is really very special. A subtle change has occurred and the typically aristocratic and elegant finesse of Sassicaia now has a little more joie de vivre. It is intense and deeply concentrated without being heavy and with very fine, beautifully integrated tannins that harmonize with the body of the wine. Carlo Paoli, MD and head of winemaking, views 2019 as “one of the great vintages of the last decades. Although it was not generous in quantity (about 15% less than in 2016), for the quality of the grapes… it is to be considered exceptional.” The winemaking team are at their peak in terms of understanding and managing the vineyards and the more extreme vintage variations they face due to climate change. There were 280,000 bottles made this year but in response to climate change, Paoli plans to reduce the quantity. The 2019 reminds me a lot of the sublime 2016 but somehow it is bolder with even more energy, vivacity, and exuberance. Drink from 2024-2050.

The Wine Independent (100)

This 2015 Marchesi Antinori Solaia is so charmingly sweet, ripe, and open with very bright and exuberant aromas of cream and blackberries. My impression is that many 2015s in Tuscany in general have absorbed more oak than in some other vintages but this wine wears it so well. The palate is super-harmonious with a gentle ease and flow and the tannins are beautifully integrated and combine with subtle flavors of sweet oak-spice, cream, vanilla and blackberry. There is an elegant acidity and juicy freshness but in this wine the tannins take on a new dimension becoming seamlessly refined. Just beautiful!

James Suckling (98)

This has a complex array of blackberries, black cherries, cocoa, dried herbs, slate, tobacco, olives and charred bark. Some dried roses and iodine, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm yet refined tannins. Powerful, in an understated way. Long. 73% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc and 20% sangiovese. Try in 2025.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98)

A great vintage of the iconic Solaia, full of cloves, sage, graphite, grilled dried herbs, underbrush and roasted cherry pit. There's fruit too, bilberry and cassis, juicy and mouthwatering, both understated and exuberant, ensuring a Tuscan fingerprint despite its majority Cabernet Sauvignon construction. Has grip and length, and effortless charm, reflecting an excellent vintage with low yields after a hot dry summer. Antinori family showing once again why this wine, that comes from 20ha the sunniest slopes of the Tignanello estate, set at 350-400m altitude, is so hard to resist. Winemaking director Renzo Cotarella.