Introducing the remarkable Monte Faustino Fornaser Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2017. Born from Veneto's fabled Valpolicella region in Italy, this wine is a testament to meticulous viticulture and winemaking practices. Monte Faustino, a bespoke winery where the Fornaser family exudes passion and respects deep-rooted Italian traditions, is renowned for its singularly stunning wines.

The 2017 vintage involves hand-picked Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes, partially dried on 'arele' trays, enhancing intensity and concentrating aromas. The fermentation process, followed by a 30-month maturing period in Slavonian oak barrels, yields a beautifully balanced wine that defies comparison.

Endowed with a rich ruby red hue, the Monte Faustino Fornaser Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2017 offers multifaceted sensory notes, a delightful spectrum spanning spiced fruit, tobacco to chocolate. Nuanced acidity complements embracing tannins, elegantly harmonising in a persistent finish. This fine wine is an epitome of quality, mastery, and timeless Italian character.

Exuding the distinct elegance of elite French wines, the Pierre Girardin Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots 2020 is unparalleled in its class. Produced in the prestigious Nuits-Saint-Georges region of Burgundy, the Aux Boudots vineyard boasts unrivalled Pinot Noir grapes that flourish in limestone-clay soil.

Pierre Girardin, the latest in a lengthy lineage of passionate viticulturists, has endowed this wine with his devoted expertise. Crafted using traditional vinification methods with organic practices, the wine is characterised by its depth and complexity. Layers of vibrant red fruit seamlessly blend with subtle spicy notes, the full-bodied richness beautifully tempered by refined tannins and an everlasting finish.

This splendid expression of a Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru brings endless pleasure to those who appreciate the noble art of winemaking, making Pierre Girardin Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots 2020 a cornerstone in any discerning wine collector's cellar.

Vinous (94)

It’s rare that you take in the aromas of an Amarone and the first thing that comes to mind is how wonderfully fresh and perfumed it is, but that’s exactly what you’ll experience from the 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico from Quintarelli. Sour cherries are complicated by notes of rose, sweet spice and hints of cedar and mint. It’s deeply textural yet precise, with a polished and pure display of purple-tinged red fruit contrasted by zesty acids and a slight herbal twang. Remarkably feminine and undeniably elegant, with a slow-mounting structure that sneaks up on you through the finale. This gentle giant tapers off long and floral, only hinting at the depths that further cellaring will bring.

Vinous (93-95)

Bright medium red. Discreet, pristine scents of dark cherry, flowers and crushed rock. Wonderfully rich and fine-grained, offering outstanding inner-mouth tension to its medicinal red cherry and licorice flavors complicated by minerals, spices and flowers. Less accessible today than the Cailles (Chevillon noted that in November it was the other way around) but this wine really dances on the palate and rises inexorably on the sappy, mouthcoating finish.

Vinous (85-87)

The 2020 Nuits Saint-Georges Village has quite high-toned bouquet with fig-tinged black cherry fruit. The palate is sweet and candied, a little confit like, something almost Tuscan about the finish. Still, enjoyable, if not exactly Pinot-like, hence my parsimonious score.

Vinous (94)

The 2015 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru has a temptress of a nose, with open, welcoming red cherry, crushed strawberry and subtle mineral scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin. There is plenty of tightly knitted fruit here, and a patina of oak that is still to be assimilated, but also wonderful detail and subtlety on the sublime, sophisticated finish. This has enormous potential. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting. (DIAM 10 closure)

Vinous (92+)

The 2016 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru evinces a more modern style on the nose with pure and opulent black cherries, fig and sloes. It comes across as a bit of a crowd pleaser but it is undeniably attractive. The palate is well balanced with supple tannin and well judged acidity. There is plenty of extraction here and a carapace of quality new oak, but it seems to work well. It should become a noble Nuits Saint-Georges with a few years in bottle. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting. (DIAM 30 closure)

Burghound (92)

There is a background whiff of volatile acidity that adds a bit of lift to the notably ripe aromas of black cherry, cassis, earth and the sauvage. The rich, full-bodied, concentrated and muscular flavors evidence focused power on the balanced, long, rustic and markedly firm finish. This is a wine to buy and forget that you own it as it has excellent development potential.

Vinous (91-93)

The 2019 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru has a backward bouquet that demands coaxing, scents of dark berry fruit, leather and sous-bois, with brown spices and sage. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Quite linear in style, it politely refuses to fan out on the finish. If you are looking for a strict and slightly backward Les Pruliers then this is the place to come.

Vinous (95)

The 2016 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru has an impressive and quite captivating bouquet with open-knit tertiary red berry fruit, hints of leather and sous-bois, just so involving that you cannot extract your nose from the glass. The palate is beautifully balanced with seamless tannin, superb acidity, the new oak present but seamless integrated with a satin-like finish that you might conflate with a wine from Vosne-Romanée. Outstanding. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

James Suckling (98)

An Amarone for the future with terrific richness and tannin power, offering dried fruit, figs, blackberries, bark, mushrooms and hints of wood. Full-bodied and very structured with a powerful finish. It needs a lot of time to come around. Try it after 2024.

Decanter (97)

This remarkable Amarone won the very highest acclaim from its original judging panel and then sailed through every subsequent judging stage, to the extent that its appearance in our Best In Show collection was never seriously in doubt. It’s already over five years old, but is still very dark in the glass -- and it’s a wine of remarkable aromatic complexity, too. Amarone-lovers will know just how many allusions these wines are capable of evoking, and it’s not hard to make out mushrooms, forest underbrush, truffle, Havana leaf and even woodland violets as well as the more usual confit cherries and plums in this wine’s aromatic profile. In the mouth, the wine is remarkably concentrated yet elegant, carrying that bundle of allusions effortlessly and seamlessly through the palate. Fine-beaded tannins lend support, and the concentration of fruit is such that any overt acidity is almost an afterthought.