Red Wine
Elio Grasso Barbera d’Alba Vigna Martina 2021
"Raised half in new oak and half in used barrique, the 2021 Barbera D'Alba Vigna Martina is a brooding and dark beast with an opaque dark purple color and forward oak spice notes of bourbon, baked plum, black cherries, menthol, and dark earth. It feels hot on the nose and is full-bodied on the palate, with ripe tannins and tangy acidity. Its ripe, oaky profile demands more time in bottle to show at its best. This is a robust, nearly full-bodied red to cellar for another couple of years and drink over the following 6-8. It's quite powerful, but it’s going to appeal to a lot of New World drinkers." - Jeb Dunnuck
Elio Grasso Langhe Nebbiolo “Gavarini” 2022
"Raised and fermented entirely in stainless steel, the 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo Gavarini is a bright red concentrated hue and delivers expressive aromas of ripe orange peel, delicate clove spice, roses, and fresh raspberries. Medium-bodied, it’s fresh, energetic, and easygoing in nature, with fine tannins, good ripeness, and evenly balanced freshness. Approachable and youthful now, it’s is going to show its best over the next few years." - Jeb Dunnuck
Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté 2019
"Very different from the Gavarini Chiniera, the 2019 Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté shows more bite, structure and a bigger tannic impact. Fruit was harvested a bit earlier, but healthy grape skins allowed for 52 days of maceration. This wine shows beautiful intensity and fullness with dark fruit, earth, hazelnut and dark plum. Surrounded by forests, the greenery gives balance to this wine by moderating temperatures. In fact, this site saw up to 10 degrees Celsius drops in diurnal temperatures, leading to thick skins and ideal phenolic ripeness." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera 2019
"With vines adjacent to forests on white chalky soils, the Elio Grasso 2019 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is a luminous and very beautiful wine. Vintner Gianluca Grasso called this "the helicopter vintage" because he actually rented a helicopter to fly over the vines for 45 minutes to dry them from rain right before harvest. As he tells it, this was a costly but good decision because 15 minutes after he finished harvesting on October 26, heavy rain came and lasted an entire week. Thanks to these dramatic measures, the grape skins were excellent, and maceration with submerged cap lasted 55 days. That's how perfect the skins were. This balanced wine shows extreme precision and elegance." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2018
"Poggio di Sotto hits it out the ballpark once again with an extremely elegant interpretation that shows the incredible depth and nuance Sangiovese can achieve, even in an uneven vintage such as this. The certified organic 2018 Brunello di Montalcino reveals a dark ruby hue and mid-weight concentration. Indeed, the wine is lighter and brighter than most, despite Brunello's mandatory five years of aging before its commercial release. The tannins are silky and melt over the palate. Along the way, the wine offers high notes of red cherry, cassis and blue flower. This 38,000-bottle release carries a very high price tag, but your high expectations will be met." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2017
"Made with certified-organic fruit, the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is an impossibly graceful wine from a challenging vintage. This bottle defies the odds—and the dry heat of the growing season—to reveal soft layers of cherry, cassis and more vibrant fruit. It glides clear over the palate with silky momentum, and you only notice the tannins at the very end. Even those should soften and integrate as this collectible wine continues it bottle evolution. Production is 19,000 bottles." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Fèlsina Fontalloro IGT Toscana 2019
Luciano Sandrone Barbera d’Alba 2021
"Starting with thick concentration and inky darkness, the Luciano Sandrone 2021 Barbera d'Alba has cooked fruit aromas and some savory tones too, such as leather, spice and a hint of dusty licorice root. The style is big, and this wine is conventional with big juicy sensations. It's all very elaborate for a Barbera d'Alba, but we are talking about a vintage that naturally delivers extra concentration. Production is 25,000 bottles." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Magnum
"Impressing from the first tilt of the glass, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino makes itself known, with a heady burst of exotic spice and crushed ashen stone giving way to dried black cherries and grilled herbs. This combines the energy of the vintage with the dark balsamic-tinged fruits of Montalcino’s southern reaches, as zesty acidity maintains balance throughout, and flinty minerals saturate toward the close. It finishes long, savory and structured, yet its tannins are more rounded than anticipated, creating both a classic feel, but also leaving a mouthwatering sensation that tricks the taster back to the glass for more. Easily one of the top wines of the vintage, the 2018 is not to be missed." - Eric Guido
Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Riserva Currà 2015
"A release of 3,824 numbered bottles (including various collectors' larger formats), the 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Currà draws its fruit from the nearby village of Neive. This wine is just terrific, showing beautiful intensity and elegance. The warm and sunny 2015 growing season is easy to recognize in the broad, rich aromas and the open-knit texture of the mouthfeel. The wine opens to a dark garnet color with some brick red too. There is a point of evolution with licorice and earthy truffle, but the wine maintains its freshness and very fine tannins." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Bruno Rocca Dolcetto d’Alba Trifole 2022
"Color: intense, black and deep, with purple reflections
Nose: net and clean scent of ripe fruits (plum, blackberry, cherry). Elegant and profound
Flavour: round and warm, with great softness and good grapes tannins. Dense and embracing, it has average persistence at first taste; lingering aftertaste with hint of almond" - Winemakers notes
Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2018
“Impressing from the first tilt of the glass, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino makes itself known, with a heady burst of exotic spice and crushed ashen stone giving way to dried black cherries and grilled herbs. This combines the energy of the vintage with the dark balsamic-tinged fruits of Montalcino’s southern reaches, as zesty acidity maintains balance throughout, and flinty minerals saturate toward the close. It finishes long, savory and structured, yet its tannins are more rounded than anticipated, creating both a classic feel, but also leaving a mouthwatering sensation that tricks the taster back to the glass for more. Easily one of the top wines of the vintage, the 2018 is not to be missed.” – Eric Guido
Ronco del Gnemiz Rosso “Dott. Palazzolo” 2020
"Savory in the glass, the 2020 Rosso del Gnemiz lifts up with dusty florals and earth tones before giving way to dried black cherries. This is pure elegance, lifted and refined, with crisp red and black fruits accelerated by brisk acidity. It finishes classically dry and with fine tannins that frame the wine perfectly, tapering off with amazing length and clarity, leaving peppery florals to linger." - Eric Guido, Vinous
Luciano Sandrone “Valmaggiore” Nebbiolo d’Alba 2020
"The 2020 Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore is gorgeous. Crushed red berry, spice, leather, mint and rose petal all grace this exquisite, silky Valmaggiore. The aromatics alone are so beguiling, but all the elements are so nicely balanced. The 2020 is compelling today, but will be even better in another few years. " - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Paolo Scavino Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata Riserva 2016
"This is a stunner. The Paolo Scavino 2016 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell'Annunziata is a beautifully balanced and memorable wine that will continue to delight for years to come. It is compact and silky in texture with abundant and very lively aromas of dark fruit and wild cherry. The Rocche dell'Annunziata vineyard is located in La Morra. This is a gorgeous wine that awards lots of emotion. Production is 6,800 bottles." - Monica Larne, The Wine Advocate
Elio Grasso Barolo Riserva Rüncot 2015
"The last time we saw this iconic wine was in 2013 (a vintage that earned a perfect score). Following up on that success, the Elio Grasso 2015 Barolo Riserva Rüncot is a generous, open-knit Nebbiolo that has much of the warmth and sunshine locked deep within its core. The bouquet reveals broad brush aromas of black fruit, blackberry preserves, smoky tar and baked plum. With 7,000 bottles made, this Riserva is smooth and velvety in texture. There's no reason why it can't hold until the mid-century mark." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Elio Grasso Barbera d’Alba Vigna Martina 2020
"The 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Martina offers an appealing combination of fruit intensity with Monforte structure and savoriness. Scorched earth, leather, tobacco, cedar and dried herbs all open in the glass. A lengthy ferment with submerged cap maceration yields a distinctly Barolo-like Barbera with a good bit of complexity but less overt fruit than is often found in most Barberas." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
