Italy

Rating

93

Release Price

$45

Drink Date

1997 - 2010

Reviewed by

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date

28th Apr 1995

Source

98, The Wine Advocate

The 1990 Sammarco may prove to be a worthy rival to the glorious 1985. The saturated ruby/purple/garnet color is followed by an intense yet youthful fragrance of ripe black fruits, vanillin, and minerals. Full-bodied, rich, beautifully delineated and structured, it possesses considerable body, tannin, and extract. Although accessible, it is extremely young and ideally should have another 2-4 years of cellaring. It should age well for 15+ years. As I have said many times, Sammarco always reminds me of a top Graves, because of the tobacco/mineral component it often displays. This outstanding Tuscan producer has been exceptionally consistent over the last decade, so it is not surprising that the 1990s performed brilliantly. Importer: Vias Imports, New York, NY; Tel. (212) 629-0200

Rating

87

Release Price

$65

Drink Date

1999 - 2010

Reviewed by

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date

30th Oct 1998

Source

119, The Wine Advocate

The dark ruby/purple-colored 1994 Sammarco, a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Sangiovese, reveals aromas of lead pencil, charred leather, black cherries, and toasty oak. With moderately high tannin, and a more angular, austere personality than is generally found in Sammarco, this very good to excellent effort will benefit from 1-2 years of cellaring. It should keep for 12 or more years.  

The beautifully refined 2004 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Selezione Giuseppe Quintarelli captures the magic and the grace of classic Quintarelli. The only problem is getting your hands on one of these very hard to find bottles. The bouquet is delicate and feminine with enduring tones of wild berry, forest floor, balsam herb, cola and sweet almond. The wine's texture is silky and long with an impressive level of polish on the tannins. The 2004 vintage is especially prone to long aging.

Score: 95 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (216), December 2014

Rating

97

Release Price

$220

Drink Date

2014 - 2026

Reviewed by

Antonio Galloni

Issue Date

31st Aug 2009

Source

184, The Wine Advocate

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. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026.   

Rating

93

Release Price

$60

Drink Date

2012 - 2024

Reviewed by

Antonio Galloni

Issue Date

2nd May 2011

Source

194, The Wine Advocate

The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is fabulous in this vintage. Waves of dark fruit caress the palate as this juicy, delicious wine reveals its considerable charms. The fruit shows lovely weight and richness while maintaining an essentially mid-weight personality. Sweet scents of French oak linger on the round, caressing, impeccable finish. This is an excellent choice for drinking now and over the next decade-plus. The harvest took place from the 2nd to the 5th of October. The wine spent 24 days on the skins, after which it was racked into cask, where it spent 45 months prior to being bottled. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.  

Valdicava’s 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano was another wine that appealed to the audience. And how could it not? A rich, dark, powerful wine, the 2006 showed all of its depth and pure muscle in a stunning display of class. It was utterly magnificent.

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.

Rating

96

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2019 - 2035

Reviewed by

 Monica Larner

Issue Date

31st May 2017

Source

Interim End of May 2017, The Wine Advocate

The 2007 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico was bottled seven months before I tasted it. Grapes undergo a four-month appassimento for extra concentration and intensity. Despite this heavy-handed winemaking technique (in which the clusters lose up to 30% of their water mass in the air-drying process), this is a surprisingly delicate and nuanced wine. The aging process has definitely broken down and assimilated any of the hard edges that come from dried grapes. In its wake, the wine is polished and tight with a long, silky texture.

AG Soft contours, silky tannins and textural volume are the hallmarks of the 2007 Solaia. A riper, denser version of the 2004 with the richness of the 1997, the 2007 will please readers with a long drinking window of pure pleasure. The style is intense and bold. Readers who prefer more subtlety will find that in other vintages, as the 2007 is a voluptuous, racy, turn-on with tons of immediacy but less in the way of detail or nuance. -- Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Lupicaia (mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Petit Verdot) bares the trademark aromas of eucalyptus thanks to the soaring trees that line the perimeter of the vineyard. Dried salvia, black fruit, crushed mineral and barbecue ash are part of the complex embroidery of this gorgeous wine. The 2009 vintage shows stunning elegance and balance and is not to be missed. A horse farm, a vineyard and a massive chunk of Tuscany territory (with a whopping 1,700 hectares of land), Castello del Terriccio is a piece of paradise. Owner Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana Serafini Ferri keeps a low profile but is nonetheless an eloquent and visionary protagonist of modern Italian wine. The Lupicaia is one of the best wines I tasted this year.

Score: 96

Monica Larner, robertparker.com Maturity: 2015-203529 August 2013

Beautifully resonant in the glass, the 2009 Lupicaia is a standout. Sweet red cherries, flowers, mint, anise, savory herbs and spices all ring out in a supple, gracious wine loaded with class. The 2009 needs a few years for some of the contours to soften, but it is a gorgeous wine with tons of personality. This is a decidedly round, sexy Lupicaia that is going to offer plenty of enjoyment over the course of the next fifteen years or so.

Score: 95

Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2016-202901 August 2013

Rating

95

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2015 - 2025

Reviewed by

Monica Larner

Issue Date

29th Aug 2013

Source

208, The Wine Advocate

The 2010 Messorio will shed its baby fat and some of those pronounced oak tones as it unwinds in the cellar. This is an expertly crafted Merlot that offers so much in terms of charm, intensity and finesse. The opulence of its dark fruit and black cherry is offset against lingering tones of spice and leather. You'll need to wait a bit. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025. Cinzia Merli and her expert team (with consulting enologist Luca D'Attoma) have this extraordinary capacity of transmitting the poise and grace they possess as people to the wines they make. Unlike many others in the area, Le Macchiole reported excellent results in 2010 and started harvest in many blocks just a few days later than normal thanks to slow and steady fruit ripening at slightly cooler temperatures. The 2010 vintage, they inform me, may be their best yet this century. For my tastes, 2010 does indeed show exceptional balance but I wouldn't put it ahead of standout vintages like 2007 and 2004. 

Rating

99+

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2018 - 2045

Reviewed by

Monica Larner

Issue Date

4th Mar 2016

Source

223, The Wine Advocate

This is a towering achievement. It is delightful on every level. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is an expressive, exuberant and stunning wine that opens to a dark ruby color and rich consistency. The bouquet is never-ending with immediate intensity that is followed closely by finely-tuned aromas of black cherry, spice, grilled herb, clove, tobacco, wet earth and white truffle. A gorgeous display of elegant mineral tones rises from the bouquet with time. Later, those aromas turn to cola, licorice and tar. This wine showed an impressive evolution over the 24 hours I tasted it and delivered solid improvements each time. The mouthfeel is silky and smooth, and there's enough power here to move the wine over the palate in seamless fashion. This is a bottle for the back of your cellar.

Rating

94

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2017 - 2035

Reviewed by

Monica Larner

Issue Date

29th Jun 2015

Source

219, The Wine Advocate

The 2011 Langhe Nebbiolo Conteisa is an irresistible wine with enormous depth, beauty and penetration. It sweeps over the palate in opulent waves with dark fruit, spice, leather and grilled herbs. It also shows a distinct balsam personality with cola and dried violets that give the wine a beautiful sense of aromatic lift and buoyancy. Langhe Conteisa is made with Nebbiolo (and a tiny part Barbera) from the Cerequio vineyard in La Morra. The 2011 vintage is slightly broader than past vintages, but this wine promises a long drinking evolution regardless.

Rating

95

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2018 - 2035

Reviewed by

Monica Larner

Issue Date

30th Jun 2016

Source

225, The Wine Advocate

No matter the vintage - hot or cold - this special wine always stays true to itself. The 2011 Barolo Monprivato is not as precise or polished as the excellent 2010 vintage, but the wine offers abundant elegance and generosity nonetheless. Dark fruit is followed by pipe tobacco, licorice and cola. These elements achieve a beautiful level of balance, depth and unity. Some tartness appears on the close. This wine demonstrates that you can't beat an excellent vineyard site when it comes to making iconic wines.

95

The excellent 2012 Saffredi is one of the best wines I have tasted from Fattoria le Pupille. This is an exuberant and expressive blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a smaller part Petit Verdot from the gorgeous hills of Maremma near Grosseto, Tuscany. The wine is rich and penetrating with a stunning sense of balance and inner poise. Dark cherry, blackberry, spice, leather, tobacco and grilled herb flow freely from the bouquet. The wine is softly textured with full body appeal. This fabulous Saffredi should age forward ten years or more. The Cabernet component of the wine shows perfect ripeness. (Monica Larner)