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Fragrant and full bodied, this structured red has enticing aromas evoking woodland berry, balsamic aromas of pine, rose petal and exotic spice. The enveloping palate delivers crushed raspberry, succulent Marasca cherry, licorice and nutmeg alongside firm, tightly knit tannins. Fresh acidity lends tension and balance. Best 2022–2027.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe Produttori del Barbaresco 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello has a very distinct character that is expressed in terms of its fine but present tannic structure and its somewhat fragile primary fruit. The Ovello dives straight into those ephemeral Nebbiolo aromas with an emphasis on licorice, tar, blue flower and campfire ash. If you consider this timeline of Riservas, this wine brings us through that magic threshold in which Nebbiolo starts to show its unique aromatic appeal and mystique. This is always one of my favorites in this series of nine. Production is 18,741 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPAn opulent and complex version, boasting cherry, strawberry, cut hay, iron and tobacco aromas and flavors. Firms up nicely on the finish, with terrific balance and length. Shows both a fruity and a savory side, with fine potential to age. Best from 2023 through 2045. 1,561 cases made, 350 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSOvello is the northernmost vineyard in the Barbaresco commune - and the largest. It was one of the original five vineyards individually bottled in 1967 by Produttori. The clayey soils and exposure to the cool northern winds gives this wine a full body and structured tannins. The 2015 features a woody, vanilla-toned fragrance with some delicate cherry fruit. In the mouth it's a latticework of well integrated tannins with lacy acidity draped over deep hedgerow fruits, followed by some subtle wood spice on the long finish. This is one to leave for a few years, but there's so much potential here. 17,000 bottles and 1,200 magnums produced. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECOne of the stand outs in this range, the 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello shows the energy and tension that are so typical of this site, but with a slightly riper profile than is the norm. Then again, we are talking about 2015. Although perhaps not the most classic expression of Ovello, the Produttori's 2015 is very nicely done. Best of all, it will drink well with just a few more years in bottle. This is an especially heady, exotic Ovello Barbaresco that needs to shed some baby fat, its considerable appeal today notwithstanding.Vinous Media | 95 VM

The 2016 Barbaresco Costa Russi is ripe, creamy and enveloping, as it so often is, and yet also preserves the super classic sense of structure that runs through all these wines. In 2016, Costa Russi has an extra touch of mid-palate sweetness that gives the wine its sense of immediacy. Succulent red cherry, rosewater, kirsch, mint and dried flowers meld together in the glass. Soft and sensual, with tons of allure, Costa Russi is another winner from Gaja. Time in the glass brings out the wine’s density and tannins, both of which it has in spades.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThe 2016 Barbaresco Costa Russi is a more floral, sappy Barbaresco, offering textbook notes of black cherries, rose petals, sappy herbs, and violets. It’s one of the more vibrant, juicy, and perfumed wines in the lineup and has medium to full body, bright yet integrated acidity, and the same incredibly polished yet certainly present tannins found in all these 2016s. This is another elegant 2016 that never puts a foot wrong.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDThis delicate red features floral, strawberry, cherry, currant and loamy earth aromas and flavors, showing terrific balance. A line of firm tannins adds support, and the finish is long and expansive. Best from 2023 through 2045. 175 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 97 WSBeautiful dried strawberries, flowers and cedar with hints of tar. Full body, round and rich tannins with lots of cedar, tar and tobacco, as well as a hint of chocolate powder. Lovely, long and caressing finish. Gorgeous again. Better after 2022.James Suckling | 97 JSCosta Russi, a ten-acre plot just below Sorì Tildìn in the Roncagliette MGA, enjoys southern and western exposures; in 2016, it produced a beautifully aromatic wine. It opens with a garden of floral and herbal scents that lead into precise flavors of red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate. Notes of soft herbs and green spice weave through the fruit tones, buoyed by lively acidity that propels the flavors to a long, elegant finish.Wine & Spirits | 97 W&SThe 2016 Barbaresco Costa Russi is a very botanical wine in terms of its aromas, with lovely perfumes of rose, elderflower, sambuco and anise seed, along with a touch of glycerine. It then follows up with some sweetness that feels very embracing in this wine. This is the more ephemeral, delicate and floral member of the extended Barbaresco family from Gaja, with a crunchy tannic bite, but nothing too severe. There is a really good vitality and energy to this very expressive wine. Costa Russi remains the smallest of Gaja’s single-vineyard wines, and Gaia Gaja warns that there will be considerably less of it starting with the 2017 vintage. Production for this wine had always varied greatly to begin with, due in part to the fragile nature of the 80-year-old vines, but about half of those were removed and replanted. It will be a while before the new vines are old enough to go online. So, with some 10,000 bottles made in 2016 and 6,000 bottles in 2015, we can count on those numbers to be split by half over the next three to four years, for sure.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPCosta Russi is a relatively cool site, and even in this exceptional vintage there’s a minty tone on the nose. There are intense raspberry and redcurrant aromas, and a fragrance of roses. The attack is suave but very concentrated, with powerful tannins. This has heft as well as tension, and it’s oaky and powerful. It clearly needs time to relinquish its grip but it has underlying intensity of fruit, and terrific length. Drinking Window 2022 - 2042.Decanter | 95 DECDark-skinned berry, coconut and balsamic aromas of eucalyptus shape the nose along with a whiff of rose petal. On the tense, youthfully austere palate, taut, fine-grained tannins and vibrant acidity support red cherry, cranberry, orange zest, brown pepper and a hint of tobacco. Give it time to fully develop. Drink 2024–2041.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

Wow. The purity of fruit and sophistication is out of this world. Peaches, strawberries, bright plums and berries. Full-bodied yet compacted. The tannin structure is there but you don’t see it. It’s tight and resolved with perfect balance and length. A masterpiece. So emotional to taste this. Made from half a hectare. 3,500 bottles made. January 2024 release.James Suckling | 100 JSThis red starts out smooth and almost creamy, displaying cherry, strawberry, earth, iron and eucalyptus flavors. Firm and balanced, with excellent energy and a long, resonant finish that evokes white pepper. Offers brilliant intensity and expression. Best from 2027 through 2045. 300 cases made, 40 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe Bruno Giacosa 2020 Barbaresco Rabajà is a little rounder and softer in personality compared to the extremely focused and linear 2021 vintage. This expression awards dark fruit and lovely concentration and has a medium-plus body on the palate. You can’t say that it is more accessible, because the wine will require more bottle aging, but there is a softness to the fruit that is immediately pleasing.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP