92-94 Point Wines

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The 2018 Rosso di Montalcino lifts up with a dark and layered bouquet of dusty roses and smoky minerals, giving way to blackberry, plum and exotic spice. It’s silky and pliant in feel, with depths of ripe red and black fruits offset by cooling mineral tones, while turning more savory and floral toward the close. Round tannins coat the senses under a display of violet florals and lavender. This is a Rosso that dreams of being a Brunello; cellar it for another year or two, and reap the rewards.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino offers a full and generous personality with layers of dark fruit, cola, rosemary and balsam herb. This is a medium to full-bodied Sangiovese with lots of ripe fruit, soft tannins and rich texture. Like many of the Brunellos from this vintage, this wine offers an accessible side that makes it easy to drink without waiting too much longer. Production is 40,000 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPA darkly floral bouquet of musky red currants and hints of savory spice wafts up from the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino. It’s silky and pliant, with herbal-tinged red and black fruits that flow across a core of saline-minerality. The 2018 finishes long and staining to the senses, with a web of fine tannins offset by hints of citrus-tinged blackberry. There’s an underlying power here seldom seen in the 2018 vintage, but patience will be required.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino is modest and elegantly styled, with raspberry liqueur, fresh herbs, and rose hip. Medium-bodied and driven by orange citrus pith, strawberry, cloves, and dusty tannins, it is a finessed and cooling example from the vintage. Drink 2024-2036.Jeb Dunnuck | 92+ JDPorcini mushrooms, cherry stones, iodine and some beetroot here. Savory and chewy, with a medium body and firm tannins. A little tight and austere at the finish. Should soften. Try in 2023.James Suckling | 92 JS

The 2018 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Argenina is a total knock-out. Bright, aromatic and silky, the 2018 is pure class. Crushed flowers, mint, spice, licorice, tobacco and incense are some of the notes that grace this exquisite Chianti Classico. When I taste the best wines here, I often wonder why more producers aren’t capable of this level of quality. Stellar.Vinous Media | 93 VMPreviously bottled as an annata, Palazzino’s Argenina has now been elevated to Gran Selezione, meaning the estate’s entire Chianti Classico production now falls into this category. It comes from a vineyard in the southern reaches of Gaiole on limestone-rich, fluvial terraces. An autumnal whiff of chestnut is followed by fetching heather and cinnamon stick. Elegant and fine framed, it presents as midweight and linear at first, then fleshes out across the palate. Tangy acidity persists throughout, and there’s a subtle yet confident grip of tannins on the finish.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2018 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Argenina is herbaceous with pine, damp soil, and dried cherry. Medium-bodied, with fine tannins, a soft stony texture, and notes of plum pit and tea leaf., it is a pleasantly savory wine to drink over the next 5-7 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 90 JD

Perfumed and fresh with cherries, cedar and hints of dried flowers. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and a long, direct finish. Really lively and fresh. Very typical for a top Chianti Classico. Drink now.James Suckling | 93 JSThe 2018 Chianti Classico Berardenga is endowed with so much class. In 2018, the Classico is a bit more restrained than it can be. That mid-weight sense of structure, though, gives the wine quite a bit of early appeal. Even so, I would cellar the 2018 for a few years, as all the elements haven’t fully come together just yet. Dark cherry, game, smoke, licorice and earthy notes are a reminder we are in Castelnuovo Berardenga, even if the 2018 has less weight and overt power than Fèlsina fans are used to seeing.Antonio Galloni | 92 AGNew leather, camphor and blue flower are some of the aromas you’ll find on this bright, fragrant red. On the medium-bodied palate, vibrant acidity and taut tannins surround cassis, Marasca cherry and tobacco notes. Drink 2022–2028.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThe Fèlsina 2018 Chianti Classico Berardenga is a toned and delicate expression of 100% Sangiovese from a vintage that produced beautifully subtle and understated wines. It shows good momentum driven by dark fruit, blackberry and summer cherry. The intensity of these aromas is downplayed and rendered less pronounced, adding elegance and fragility. Pretty background notes of spice and balsam herb add an extra layer of complexity. An ample 280,000 bottles were produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPIn Chianti Classico’s southeastern corner of Castelnuovo Berardenga, Fèlsina’s south-facing Rancia vineyard evokes a dusty, dry, sunbaked landscape. As always, it is aged in new French oak barriques but at this stage the wood comes across as more pronounced than usual. A jumble of macerated cherry, roasted coffee and grilled Mediterranean herbs gushes from the glass. On the palate, concentrated currants are swathed in dry, powdery tannins. There’s a sour-cherry tug, and slightly bitter finish. I recommend waiting a couple of years to let it sort itself out. Drinking Window: 2023 - 2028.Decanter | 90 DEC