Italy

Rating 99

Reviewed by

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date

30th Oct 2001

Source

137, The Wine Advocate

The 250-case cuvee of 100% Merlot, the 1999 Redigaffi has an astonishing 36 grams per liter of dry extract, which exceeds most top Pomerols in a great vintage! Unfined and unfiltered, it is as close to perfection as a wine can get. The color is a deep saturated blue/purple. The powerful, pure nose offers smoke, licorice, black cherry, and blackberries. It boasts awesome concentration, a fabulously dense, viscous mid-section, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. This is riveting juice. 

Rating

97

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2015 - 2031

Reviewed by

Antonio Galloni

Issue Date

26th Apr 2012

Source

200, The Wine Advocate

The 2001 Barolo Riserva Monprivato Ca d’Morissio is a staggering wine of heroic proportions. It’s all there in the glass. Dark cherries, flowers, spices and minerals emerge as this powerful, intense Barolo shows off its inimitable pedigree. The 2001 isn’t likely to be one of the biggest Ca d’Morissios, but it is impeccable and totally satisfying in every way. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2031. Mauro Mascarello’s 2001s showed very well. I have had the privilege of attending more than my fair share of Monprivato verticals, but something tells me future tastings are going to be even more special, as the number of great examples of this wine has never been higher. Imagine tasting the 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 in another 10-15 years’ time! 

The 2001 vintage in Piedmont has long been a favorite of mine. Bruno Giacosa’s 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto is explosive and decadently rich from the very first taste. The 2001 is arguably the last truly classic vintage for the Rocche Red Label. To be sure, the 2004, 2005 and 2007 are all compelling, but the 2001 has more in common stylistically with vintages like 1996 and 1999. Dense, perfumed and wonderfully intense, the 2001 is phenomenally great. Wow.

Score: 98 Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, March 2018

The 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto is unbelievably reticent, which is hardly surprising considering how massive the wine was when it was relased. Readers will have to be especially patient here. The 2001 is best forgotten about for a number of years. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.

Score: 97 Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate (200), April 2012

Darker and more backward than the Falletto in both its aromas and flavors, Giacosa’s staggering 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto offers an explosive nose of spices, menthol, minerals, smoke and scorched earth followed by waves of sweet fruit that coat the palate in a potent mix of finesse and sheer power, with fine tannins, and a lingering balsamic note on the finish. This complex, multi-dimensional wine will require considerable patience and will age gracefully for several decades. Made from the oldest vines at Falletto, the 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto is another towering achievement from Bruno Giacosa. An Azienda Agricola Falletto di Bruno Giacosa bottling. To be released in 2007.

Score: 97 Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate (167), October 2006

Rating

93

Release Price

$94

Drink Date

2008 - 2023

Reviewed by

Antonio Galloni

Issue Date

31st Oct 2007

Source

173, The Wine Advocate

The 2003 Barolo Monprivato is made in an atypically big, powerful style loaded with ripe fruit supported by plenty of structure. It boasts an enticing palate presence and a uniquely intense personality. The classic Monprivato notes of ripe cherries, roses, minerals, flowers and herbs are present, but they don’t have the clarity and precision of the finest vintages. In 2003 Mascarello was more severe than normal in his green harvesting of the vineyard as he wanted to lighten the load on his plants to reduce their stress. He was also helped considerably by the compact, moisture-retentive soils. Readers who prefer more classically-styled versions of Monprivato may want to revisit the 1999 and 2001 although Mascarello told me he prefers the 2003 to the 2001. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2023. Mauro Mascarello is one of the few producers who prefers his 2003 Barolos to his 2001s as he finds they have more power and intensity while also maintaining finesse and a sense of classicism. The wines certainly have more power, but I am not sure I would agree they have more finesse. In any event, his 2003 Barolos are among the best of the vintage, in particular the Santo Stefano di Perno and Monprivato. I also tasted the 2003 Ca’ d’ Morissio from barrel a few months ago, and it is shaping up to be a remarkably rich wine very much in keeping with the style of the vintage. Mascarello hasn’t decided when he will release the 2001 Ca’ d’ Morissio, but it, too, is promising, as is his entire range of 2004 Barolos.  

Rating

99+

Release Price

$320

Drink Date

2024 - 2044

Reviewed by

Antonio Galloni

Issue Date

31st Oct 2009

Source

185, The Wine Advocate

The 2004 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto is off the charts. Sweet roses, menthol, tar, licorice and minerals come together in a sensual, elegant style that recalls Giacosa’s legendary 1989 Riserva Collina Rionda, a wine many observers (this one included) place at the top of the hierarchy of all-time legendary Barolos. Ripe, sensual, and utterly spellbinding, the 2004 Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto offers superb elegance and pedigree. At this stage the wine remains surprisingly accessible. Readers will want to taste the 2004 Rocche as soon as possible as it will almost certainly head for a long period of dormancy in the near future. This magical Barolo will likely merit a perfect score in the future. The 2004 Rocche is the last wine Giacosa and former longtime oenologist Dante Scaglione produced together from start to finish and it is an appropriate bookend to a wonderful partnership that yielded so many profound wines. Anticipated maturity: 2024-2044. Bruno Giacosa created quite a stir when he announced this spring that he would not bottle any of his 2006 Barolos and Barbarescos. While I wasn’t surprised he would pass on bottling a few wines – as early as spring 2007 Giacosa did not present the 2006 Barbaresco Santo Stefano and Barolo Croera in my annual barrel tastings – the decision to skip an entire vintage prompted a back and forth volley of polemics that is such an integral part of the Italian way of life. Clearly Giacosa had a difficult emotional relationship with these wines from the start, as they were made in the year he suffered a stroke and was absent from the winery for long periods of time. Perhaps Giacosa simply wanted to cancel the entire year from his memory. Or maybe it is a case where the vintage quality in Giacosa’s vineyards and later of the wines themselves in the cellar did not live up to his exacting standards. Given the emotional weight attached to this year I am not sure anyone – even Giacosa himself – will fully understand all of the circumstances behind the decision not to bottle the wines. After having tasted Giacosa’s 2006 Barolos and Barbarescos on numerous occasions I am convinced he has bottled lesser wines in the past. It is important to remember that virtually all of Piedmont’s top estates are essentially small, family-run wineries, and in that regard Giacosa is no exception. What seems pretty obvious at this point is that under normal circumstances without emotional duress, Giacosa and his team would have been better equipped to deal with the challenges of the harvest. Giacosa’s decision is more a reflection of the estate’s inability to deal with a difficult harvest (for understandable reasons) rather than a commentary on the intrinsic quality of the vintage itself. Giacosa may also have been prompted to skip an average year for his wines based on the exceptional juice he put into the bottle in the surrounding 2004, 2005 and 2007 vintages. Sadly, prices for the top bottles – the Red Label Barolo and Barbaresco Riservas in particular – continue to climb as collectors throughout the world recognize the quality of the wines. Still, at the risk of sounding out of touch with today’s economic environment, it is pretty clear that Giacosa’s finest wines remain relatively well-priced within the context of the world finest and most collectible wines. A recent bottle of the 1989 Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano stood shoulder to shoulder with the 1989 Haut-Brion and Rousseau’s 1990 Chambertin....in fact, it may have even surpassed those icons!  

I was blown away by the 2006 Syrah. This fresh, vibrant wine possesses endless layers of perfumed dark fruit, mint, minerals and sweet toasted oak. Despite its extroverted personality, the wine reveals superb clarity and detail in a rich, massive style. The tannins build mightily on the finish, suggesting a minimum of a few years of cellaring is warranted. It is impossible not to admire this wine's exceptional pedigree.

The 2006 Barbaresco Crichët Pajé is one of the most open, accessible vintages of this wine I can remember tasting. But it's still Roagna, which means the wine is powerful and structured, but less so than is typically the case. Iron, smoke, incense, tobacco, autumn leaves and a host of ferrous, savory notes are some of the signatures. As is sometimes the case here, extended time in barrel has dried out the fruit a bit. This is a style that personally gives me less pleasure, although, as the saying goes, your mileage may vary.

-- Antonio Galloni

The 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva emerges with hints of smoke, underbrush, licorice, leather and wild cherries. The wine gains volume and depth in the glass as its sheer pedigree emerges over time. There is plenty of muscle to back up the delicate aromatics in a striking balance of elegance and power, all in an essentially classic, mid-weight style. The round, deeply satisfying finish makes it hard to put the glass down.

Wine Advocate

90

Tenuta San Guido’s 2008 Guidalberto is a very pretty wine laced with mineral-infused dark fruit. This is a decidedly smaller scaled, lithe Guidalberto that impresses for its overall balance and finesse. The structure of the 2006 and the exuberance of the 2007 are missing, but the 2008 offers superb drinkability and pleasure today and over the next few years. Dried flowers, licorice and new leather add the final nuances of complexity on the finish. The 2008 Guidalberto is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Most of the fruit comes from vineyards that are separate from those used for Sassicaia, although Guidalberto always includes some barrels that don’t make it into the top wine. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2015. (Antonio Galloni)

Gaja's 2008 Sori San Lorenzo is impeccable from start to finish. The 2008 is a round, seamless San Lorenzo with seemingly no hard edges and terrific overall balance. The signature aromas and flavors are there, as is the wine's typical gravitas, yet the 2008 has an extra level of sweetness, its size notwithstanding. The wine possesses striking inner perfume and fabulous overall balance. The sheer excitement of the very finest years isn't quite there, but this is a fine bottle just the same. An explosive, juicy finish rounds things out in style. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2033.

Score: 95

Rating 96

Drink Date 2019 - 2040

Reviewed by Monica Larner

Issue Date 19th Sep 2019

Source September 2019 Week 3, The Wine Advocate

Production was skipped over in 2007 due to extreme hail damage. The fruit that would normally be destined to Amarone went to the lower tier Valpolicella Superiore instead. The 2008 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta marks a return to a slightly cooler vintage with a longer growing season slowed down during the summer's moderate temperatures. Indeed, harvest was wrapped up during the first days of November. The blend is mostly Corvina, at about 60%, with smaller parts Corvinone, Rondinella, Croatina and Oseleta. The new Dal Forno winery was finished in 2008, complete with the unique vacuum-sealed fermentation tasks that help to avoid any intrusive oxygen during winemaking. Indeed, this wine is balanced and elegant with fruit that is still crunchy and very much alive. The tannins are firm and nicely integrated into the wine's thick, fleshy consistency. This vintage is characterized by a very elegant and graceful approach, which must be taken into context given the enormity of a wine of this caliber. Happily, there is no doubt that this vintage should still evolve steadily over time.

The 2008 Guado al Tasso is once again fabulous. In fact, it may be Tuscany's most improved wine over the last few years. Firm, vibrant tannins support expressive layers of dark fruit, plums, cherries, sage, espresso and mocha. The wine shows fabulous detail and nuance in a translucent, totally seductive style, with tons of focus, drive and verve. It is a striking wine that will be a joy to follow over the coming years. Guado al Tasso is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.