Vinous (92)

The 2016 Barolo Capalot Vecchie Viti is dark, beguiling and very pretty. Rose petal, orange peel, cinnamon, kirsch, sweet red cherry and sweet pipe tobacco give the Capalot striking aromatic nuance and a real sense of exoticism that is quite inviting. Medium in body and constantly changing in the glass, the Capalot captures all of the complexities that make Nebbiolo and Barolo so fascinating. The tannins need time to soften, but there is plenty to look forward to once that happens.

Vinous (92)

The 2016 Barbaresco is a gorgeous entry-level wine in this range. Dark and fleshy, the 2016 offers terrific depth as well as plenty of character, which is great to see in its peer group. Black cherry, plum, mocha, leather, spice and licorice all meld together. One of the more open wines in the range, the Barbaresco will also give readers an idea of what to expect. This is an absolutely delicious wine in its peer group and price range. The straight Barbaresco is a blend from Meruzzano and young vine fruit from Ronchi.

Wrapped in elegance and commanding respect amongst its contemporaries, the Cascina Sot Barolo Bricco San Pietro 2016 is an enticing embodiment of Barolo wine. Handcrafted in the illustrious wineries of Cascina Sot in Italy's Piedmont region, this vintage is a passionate tribute to old-world techniques. It hails from the Bricco San Pietro vineyard renowned for its iron-rich soils and distinctive microclimate, resulting in a wine with unparalleled finesse and body.

The 2016 version of Cascina Sot Barolo Bricco San Pietro showcases the meticulousness of its skilled winemakers, displaying deep layers of black cherry, tar, rose, mint, and sweet spices on the palate. Aged in traditional large oak casks, it's an ardent nod towards Italy’s wine-making heritage, guaranteeing top-tier quality. Producer Cascina Sot, celebrated for its unwavering dedication to the art of winemaking, ensures that this Barolo captures the essence of its distinguished terroir.

This elegant old-world red stands as the epitome of Cascina Sot Barolo Bricco San Pietro 2016, marrying pedigree, technique, and tradition in each dexterously curated bottle.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

One of the greatest young wines I’ve ever tasted is the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Sanctus Sanctorum which is 100% old vine Grenache sourced from a single parcel in the La Crau lieu-dit. Lighter in color than both the Combes des Fous and Ex Machina, it offers a heavenly perfume of kirsch liqueur, crushed rocks, exotic spices, and graphite. This beauty hits the palate with an incredible display of opulent, decent fruit paired with an elegance and seamlessness that needs to be tasted to be believed. With building richness, no weight, ultra-fine tannins, and a finish that won’t quit, it’s released only in magnum, so it will take upward of a decade to hit maturity and will keep for 20+ years. Hats off to the Maurel family and their consultant Philippe Cambie!

Wine Advocate (97)

Quite different from the 2015 was the 2016 Reserva, a red from a cooler year with good yields, so they were able to increase production of this wine over twofold and increase the quality! It took some seven months to complete fermentation, and the élevage in barrel lasted some 29 months. It has an incredible nose, violets and something musky, intriguing, complex and nuanced, mysterious and difficult to define, with some notes reminiscent of soy sauce. The palate is seamless and with terrific balance, a silky texture and very fine but chalky tannins. This is an amazing Ribera del Duero. 18,834 bottles and 519 magnums produced. It was bottled in April 2019.

Wine Advocate (99)

The nose of the 2016 Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard transported me back to the classical wines from the Bordeaux of yesteryear, with austerity and with no room for sweetness or creamy texture. This is about chalk and umami, salty and tasty, with the clout and wilderness of Gualtallary; its electric freshness and fine tannins; the expression of Cabernet Franc (with some Merlot) in the poor, stony and limestone-rich soils from the high-altitude vineyards; and the intensity this altitude provides, as there is a strong impact from the light in the grapes. But the one thing that I liked the most about this 2016 was its balance and the way it feels light but has tremendous concentration and power, light on its feet with masses of inner strength. It's nuanced and complex, even if it's terribly young. With time in the glass, it developed notes of orange peel that spoke of freshness, and the palate is sharp and direct, with symmetry and precision. This is approachable now but should live forever in bottle.

Wine Advocate (93)

The Barbera grape can often act like Nebbiolo showing its best results in the later vintages that end on a cool note. Those conditions are what define the beautiful 2016 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina. The wine sees 20 days of maceration with submerged cap, and the bouquet is flowing, polished and impactful as a result. Blackberry, summer cherry and plum rise from the glass. Some 18 months of oak aging adds delicate touches of spice, leather and cedar.

Vinous (96.5)

The 2016 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is a vibrant, massively tannic, austere wine, the likes of which I have never tasted here before. Vertical and explosive in the glass with tons of pure power, the 2016 Gavarini Chiniera is a gorgeous Barolo that is going to need a number of years to be at its best. Swaths of tannin wrap around a core of sweet red cherry fruit. White pepper, mint, orange peel and floral notes develop a bit later, but the 2016 remains reticent and inward, with brilliant acids and tannins that dominate today. The 2016 is a striking wine, but it is going to require considerable patience.

Vinous (97)

Ample and creamy on the palate, with tremendous depth, the 2016 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is super impressive, even in the early going. Next to the Gavarini Chiniera, the Ginestra Casa Matè is a Barolo of textural resonance and volume. Black cherry, plum and a range of balsamic notes infuse the 2016 with tons of character. The is one of the real standouts of the year.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The 2016 Fontalloro is the best vintage of this landmark wine that I have tasted thus far. This is a very elegant vintage, with more volume in the mouth and precise notes of tar, licorice, camphor ash, resin and Indian spice. In a race between the highly competitive 2015 and 2016 vintages, I give a slight advantage to this wine. The warmer 2015 vintage shows more richness and exuberant fruit. However, this wine from 2016 offers a more focused and chiseled delivery. I am hopeful that this wine will continue to evolve and sharpen as it ages in the bottle. This is a beautiful wine to put aside in your cellar for ten years or more.

Perched among the verdant slopes of the sought-after region of Piedmont, Italy, the Grasso Tiziano vineyard artfully crafts the exquisite Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2016. A stalwart embodiment of Barolo – the 'King of Wines', this robust red is rooted in globally recognised Nebbiolo grapes, meticulously handpicked to capture perfection. Combining traditional and contemporary winemaking techniques, this 2016 vintage strikes an impeccable balance of structure and elegance.

For 24 months, the Grasso Tiziano Barolo Briccolina 2016 is nurtured in large Slavonian oak barrels before an additional ageing in bottle, bestowing upon the wine its stately character. Expect pronounced nuances of ripe red cherries, wild berries, and enticingly delicate whispers of sweet spices upon the nose, paving the way for a delightfully complex palate featuring echoing fruits, round tannins, and a memorable finish.

Savour the sophisticated taste of tradition coupled with Tiziano Grasso's innovative approaches with each sip of this sublime Barolo.

James Suckling (99)

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.

Vinous (96)

The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Aluigi Campo ai Peri is fabulous. Bright, vibrant and intensely aromatic, the 2016 is total seduction right out of the glass. Intense floral/spiced aromatics, red/purplish berry fruit, spice, tobacco and mocha all race out of the glass in a wine that brilliantly marries power with finesse. The Aluigi is a Gran Selezione for the first time in 2016. It's quite simply one of the finest wines I have tasted from Le Cinciole.

Vinous (95.5)

The 2016 Barolo Margheria is super-refined and elegant, but it is also classically austere, as so many top wines are in this vintage. Bright red berry fruit, wild flowers, mint, blood orange, rose petal and cinnamon all grace this very pretty, nuanced Barolo. The Margheria is medium in body, and despite its austerity, it is also very pretty, not to mention incredibly inviting. It will be even better in another few years, once the tannins soften. Readers will have to be patient.

Vinous (95)

The 2016 Barolo Parussi is the most overt and fruity of the 2016s. That is not a bad thing at all, as it gives the wine striking immediacy and mid-palate sweetness. Succulent red and purplish berry fruit, spice and mint come together in the glass. Silky, floral and medium in body, the Parussi captures all of the sensuality that is typical of the Barolos of Castiglione Falletto. Best of all, the Parussi will drink well earlier than the wines from Serralunga will.

Wine Advocate (91-93)

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Pitures comes from chalky soils strewn with small stones, and like last year, it will be only bottled in magnum. It has plenty of black cherry and blackcurrant fruit on the nose, lively and pretty, just a subtle black olive note developing in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with succulent ripe tannin, well structured with a sorbet-like freshness, the finish offering blood orange and tangerine among the red berry fruit. Superb. Grab one of those mags.

Wine Advocate (97)

Showing the precision and purity of the celebrated Bussia MGA (in Monforte d'Alba), the Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Bussia Vigna Mondoca has a lifted and largely floral bouquet with pressed rose, spicy potpourri, licorice, cinnamon stick, rosemary sprig and a hint of lavender. The intensity and the purity of the bouquet is beautiful, and although the oak tones play a prominent role at this stage, they will certainly integrate within the elegant, mid-weight texture of this Barolo. The wine ages in 30-hectoliter Austrian oak casks for 30 months. Production is 3,300 bottles.

Vinous (94-97)

Black cherry, cloves, melted road tar, licorice and leather all run through Oddero's 2016 Barolo Villero. Deep on the palate with huge swaths of tannin, the Villero is a decidedly big, virile wine that is going to need time to fully come together. I imagine it will always be a powerhouse, however. The Villero is not especially elegant; the bombastic style clearly favors power over finesse - at least, it does today. Even so, there is plenty of Nebbiolo character and classic, old-school austerity.

Produced from Renato's prized 50 year old Rocche dell'Annunziata parcel. A clay and limestone terroir with a southern exposure. Delicate, perfumed, sweet candied light cherry fruit and so beguiling that for the long-standing disciples of Nebbiolo this Barolo will make you cry it is that sublime. A genius winemaker, a desert island wine.

Jancis Robinson (19)

Glorious! Such life and length. Notably aromatic. Superb. Just a perfect, vibrant expression of what this estate can deliver: precision, fruit, freshness and a uniquely transparent expression of ripe, southern Tuscan Sangiovese.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The 2016 Chardonnay Upper Barn Vineyard comes from the oldest vines on the estate, planted in 1982. Fermented in barrel and aged for 11 months in 47% new French oak, it is a little closed to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal pink grapefruit, white peaches and Granny Smith apples with nuances of honeysuckle, lemon tart and praline. Medium to full-bodied, it explodes in the mouth with citrus and savory layers, with a gorgeous silkiness and loads of ginger and mineral sparks coming through on the finish. Wow! 813 cases produced.