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This is really transparent with sweet strawberries, flowers and orange peel, as well as some conifer and pine-nut undertones. Full-bodied and layered with intense young tannins, intertwined with bright fruit. Great finish. This is really something else. Needs time to soften, of course. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2017 Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate has a slightly darker profile of licorice, black cherry, and wood spice. The palate is generous and structured, with plum pit, mineral-rich earth, and dried orange blossom. These are wines with incredible aromatic complexity and depth. Drink 2025-2050.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2017 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is a dark, mysterious wine. Black cherry, menthol, tobacco, licorice, spice, new leather and pine meld together in a super-classic expression of Ginestra. Deep, rich and enveloping, the 2017 is so impressive in the early going. Here, too, the finesse of the tannins is remarkable.Vinous Media | 96 VMSoils in the Ginestra vineyard show more moisture-retaining clay in their composition, making them better positioned to handle hot and dry vintages such as this. The Elio Grasso 2017 Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté reveals soft concentration and extra richness; however, the aromatic nuances are well intact. I recall that the previous 2016 vintage took longer to come into focus, whereas this 2017 expression is open-knit and immediately accessible. The fruit is front and center, and the wine slides over the palate with a silky texture. Managing the tannins in 2017 was not easy, but this wine proves that lasting balance is not out of reach.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP

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.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPAnother remarkable wine from this outstanding and tension-packed vintage, the 2019 Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate takes on a bit more introspective nature, with black cherry, cracked peppercorn, licorice, and wet asphalt. Full-bodied, it offers sweet tannins and notes of balsamic herbs, violets, leather, and black raspberry that move through the palate at a glacial pace without feeling weighted. I would recommend cellaring for a few years, after which it will be perfect for winter weather evenings by the fireside over the coming decades. Drink 2026-2050.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2019 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is rich, dark and explosive. Dark-fleshed fruit, cloves menthol, licorice, scorched earth, leather and dried flowers are some of the notes that infuse the 2019 with character. Deep and resonant, with tremendous depth, the Ginestra is a wine of unbridled intensity. Swaths of tannin wrap around the huge, substantial finish. This virile, strapping Barolo is quite simply classic Ginestra.Vinous Media | 95 VMPlum and orange peel with some flowers such as violets on the nose. Medium to full body with tannins that build on the palate. Chewy and powerful. Traditional sensibility and nature to this. Try this after 2027.James Suckling | 95 JS

The 2021 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is fabulous. Bright and transparent, with captivating depth, the 2021 is a stunning beauty. Enveloping balsamic notes make a strong opening statement that remains a theme here. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and blood orange all come alive in the glass. What a wine!Vinous Media | 97 VMThe 2021 Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate displays a bit more ruby and deeper pigment in the glass and has notes of raspberry liqueur, sweet sage, pressed flowers, cedar, and licorice. It’s very pretty on the nose and carries more sapidity to the palate while also retaining lovely purity, with ripe tannins, slightly broader shoulders, and a long finish. Both of the Barolo have a tremendous amount to offer, but with distinctive personalities, and for my taste, this one has a slight edge. (I also wouldn’t be surprised if that were to flip with a different mood and tasting.) The perfumes of both the wines are exceptional in this fantastic vintage. Drink 2027-2057.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDA complex Barolo with a layered nose of licorice, vibrant red cherries, blood oranges, sweet violets and earthy minerality. Full-bodied, it shows elegance of extraction with red fruit flavors, freshness and integration. Velvety and savory tannins with excellent length. Try from 2026.James Suckling | 96 JSJust 300m away from Gavarini Chiniera, Casa Matè sits slightly lower, between 300 to 350m. Characterised by richer clay soil and full south exposure, it is always the first to bud and to be picked, usually 10 days earlier than Gavarini Chiniera. Intense aromas of liquorice, bay leaf and rosemary make for a pungent introduction. Laden with dark cherry and black raspberry, the palate is luscious on the entry, becoming more rigid as virile, commanding tannins take hold. Remarkably balanced in its girth, power and concentration.Decanter Magazine | 95 DEC