Producer: Dehours et Fils
The Dehours Champagne Brut Grande Reserve is the result of an assemblage of Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a great percentage of vin de rèserve, fermented according to Solera methods, embraced by Jerome in 1998.
Producer: Jacquesson
The NV Extra-Brut Cuvée No. 744 is soft, open-knit and caressing. The natural radiance of the vintage comes through in the wine's ample, creamy feel. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, hazelnut and lightly honeyed notes are all beautifully laced together.
Producer: Jacquesson
For the 2018 harvest in Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers (68%), Avize and Oiry (32%), the previous winter was exceptionally rainy, this was followed by a mild, stormy spring. The weather changed from June onwards, becoming fine and dry, resulting in a particularly early harvest: we started picking on 30 August and finished on 11 September. The vines were in perfect...
Producer: Jacquesson
NV Extra-Brut Cuvée No. 743 (2015 base) is soft, open-knit and caressing. The natural radiance of 2015 comes through in the wine's ample, creamy feel. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, hazelnut and lightly honeyed notes are all beautifully laced together.
Producer: Bouquin Dupont Fils
A wonderful champagne, 100% Chardonnay of Avize from vineyards more than 60 years old. A base of citrus fruit melted with the scent, and taste, of a custard where there are also two drops of lemon juice. Delicious and enjoyable.
Producer: Jacquesson
2017, the harvest from Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers (66%) Avize and Oiry (34%). Winter and Spring were exceptionally dry; the beginning of Spring was mild but, in April, destructive frosts ravaged the vineyards, especially in the Côte des Blancs. Temperatures then rose and the weather was good until July. The end of the growing season was hot but very wet. The...
Producer: Dehours et Fils
The Champagne Rosè Oeil de Pedrix is the result of an assemblage of Meunier and Chardonnay from old vineyards. Flowery Champagne Rosè Extra Brut, particularly fine and fresh with a very limited production.
Producer: Podere Poggio Scalette
The 2021 Il Carbonaione is a regal, elegant wine. Silky, beautifully perfumed and persistent, the 2021 is everything I want from Il Carbonaione. All the purity of Sangiovese caresses the senses in a wine that is both textually intense and also light on its feet. Dark red-toned fruit, rose petals, cinnamon, new leather and cedar are some of the many...
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Giovanni Canonica's 2012 Barolo Paiagallo is lifted, gracious and nicely expressive. The sweet red cherry, tobacco, mint, spice and blood orange notes give the wine much of its aromatic presence. There is a slight hint of gaminess that lurks beneath.
Producer: Giacomo Conterno
The 2006 Barolo Cascina Francia is a deep, muscular wine endowed with superb richness, inner perfume and structure. From cask this has always been an intense, inward Barolo and now that it is in bottle, those qualities seem even more prominent. Over time, the classic Cascina Francia bouquet of roses, tar, herbs and licorice comes forward, but only...
Producer: Angelo Gaja
The 1982 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is laced with sweet red cherries, freshly cut flowers, mint, spices and pine. This is an especially polished, refined San Lorenzo that emphasizes finesse over the power that is more typical of this site, although there is no shortage of tannin. With air, the 1982 keeps getting better and better.
Producer: Elio Grasso
The 2020 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is a heady, almost exotic wine. Harvest took place on October 17, very late for the year. Hard candy, kirsch, menthol, dried rose petal, mint and blood orange infuse the 2020 with striking depth. The tannins, often incisive here, are remarkably polished. A wine of beautiful nuance and persistence, the 2020 Gavarini is not...
Producer: Bartolo Mascarello
Perfumed, gracious and utterly sublime, the 2012 is all nuance a real treat to taste and drink. How can a wine be so light and yet deliver so much depth and persistence?” That, in a nutshell is what Nebbiolo is all about.
Producer: G.B. Burlotto
The 2018 Barolo Cannubi is pliant, layered and super-expressive. Even so, readers will have to be patient, as the 2018 needs time to be at its very best. Dark cherry fruit, plum, lavender and spice add gravitas.
Producer: Giacomo Conterno
A wine of breadth and grandeur, the 2010 boasts tremendous depth in every dimension. Time in the glass brings out kirsch, rose petal, menthol, leather and mocha nuances, but the 2010 is ultimately a wine to adore for its complete and profound beauty. From magnum it is truly mesmerizing. 100 points Antonio Galloni
Producer: Giacomo Conterno
The 2013 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is another huge, tannic wine. Crystalline and so precise, the 2013 is deceptive, as the aromatics are quite inviting, until masses of tannin hit the palate. Tar, rose petal, spice and cedar open with a bit of time in the glass, showing just enough to make the wine pleasurable today. Even so, the best is clearly yet to come.
Producer: Giacomo Conterno
The 2020 Barolo Francia is a soaring, classically austere wine built for the cellar. Medium in body and driving, with tons of mineral intensity, the 2020 is an evocative wine that makes me think about the future. This is what young Barolo should be - vibrant and stern, but with the purity of fruit that is typical here. The 2020 is so wonderfully alive
Producer: Ferdinando Principiano
The Barolo di Serralunga 2016 from Ferdinando Principiano is complex and radiant, an excellent choice for drinking now and over the next decades. Ferdinando's approach to making natural wines is proving to be extremely successful providing impressive quality inside his bottles.
Producer: Produttori del Barbaresco
The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo is a serious, somber wine. In most vintages, Rio Sordo is an easygoing wine, but not in 2016, it is a potent, brooding yet mid-weight Barbaresco that screams with character.
Producer: Bruno Giacosa
Good deep red. Perfumed, complex nose melds plum, red cherry, mocha, tobacco, wild herbs and spices. Sweet, silky and seamless, with almost painful intensity to its fruit if not yet as complex in the mouth as on the nose.
Producer: Giuseppe Rinaldi
The 2016 Barolo Brunate is a tightly wound wine with striking inner perfume, sweetness and energy. Deep, dense and powerful, the 2016 exudes a sense of classical austerity that will thrill Rinaldi lovers.
Producer: Bartolo Mascarello
The 2014 Barolo is a worthy follow up to the sublime 2013, especially considering the challenges of the year. Lifted, aromatic and approachable, the 2014 shows the more feminine, gracious side of Nebbiolo.
Producer: Luciano Sandrone
The 2017 Barolo Le Vigne is rich, pliant and so expressive. Even so, I imagine it will need a few years to open up fully. Bright red fruit, rose petal, blood orange and spice give the 2017 its distinctly red-toned profile.
Producer: Giacomo Conterno
Here in its debut vintage at Conterno, the 2015 Barolo Arione is wonderfully aromatic and nuanced. The 2015 is a fascinating wine to follow over the next several decades.
Producer: Bruno Giacosa
Bruno Giacosa's cellars are in Neive and he has just over 17 hectares of vines in Barbaresco and Barolo. His wines are marvellously perfumed and and full-bodied on the palate. They have an elegance that few wines in the region can match.
Giovanni Canonica's 2012 Barolo Paiagallo is lifted, gracious and nicely expressive. The sweet red cherry, tobacco, mint, spice and blood orange notes give the wine much of its aromatic presence. There is a slight hint of gaminess that lurks beneath.
