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The Gavarini Chiniera vineyard is shaped like an amphitheater with thick forests at the back (which protects from cold air currents) and sandy chalk soil at 380 meters in elevation. This is a special site, and the Elio Grasso 2018 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is always one of Grasso’s most easily recognized wines. This vintage is exceptionally bright and vibrant with lifted tones of cherry, plum, blue flower and sweet blood orange. Those primary notes are framed by sensations of dusty white mineral. This mid-weight wine exhibits the deep elegance that was achieved in this vintage. Production is 12,000 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPDried-cherry, strawberry and tar aromas follow through to a full body with intense, chewy tannins that frame the wine nicely. Flavorful finish. Juicy. Not a big wine, but shows structure and class for the vintage. Try after 2026.James Suckling | 95 JSA bright, cherry-laced red, with a fruity core framed by tobacco, earth, eucalyptus and iron flavors. Firm and dense on the finish, yet this remains elegant and vibrant through the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042. 1,000 cases made, 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe 2018 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera has shut down massively since I tasted it last year, which is probably a very good thing for its medium and longer term prospects. Time in the glass releases some of its inner sweetness, but this classically austere, young Barolo is going to need time. I would not dream of touching a bottle anytime soon.Vinous Media | 91 VM

The 2020 Barbaresco boasts an ample set of aromas with wild cherry, blue flower, sweet spice and crushed limestone. As always, the wine paints an exciting and authentic portrait of Nebbiolo, albeit with a little more richness and texture in this vintage. This is especially true in terms of the palate, where the wine offers mid-weight intensity with melting tannins. This ambitious release of 300,000 bottles is slated to hit the market in fall 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPStill vinous, with youthful strawberry notes, rosebud, violet, liquorice and a whiff of cinnamon. Savoury and floral on the palate which is dominated by firm, crisp, long acidity and velvety ripe tannins of an amazing quality; perhaps just a bit stern on the aftertaste. Amazing Barbaresco. Here we have the cooperative of Barbaresco and one known as producing some of the best-priced quality wines in all of Langhe. This will not be released before October 2023.Decanter | 94 DECJust off the bottling line, I was the first in the world to taste the 2020 Barbaresco from bottle with Aldo Vacca. It pours a jewel ruby, which Aldo thought was probably pre-bottle shock. A pretty wine with aromas of ripe raspberry (almost liqueur), sweet licorice, and fresh violets, it is medium to full-bodied, with pure, ripe fruit of red cherry, blood orange, dusty earth, and pressed flowers. This is a lovely wine out of the gates, and it will be interesting to see how it settles. Drink 2024-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 93-94 JDThis is aromatic and attractive with notes of dried cherries, hibiscus, cocoa and bark, following through a medium body with polished and refined tannins with velvety texture, and a linear finish. Fresh and floral at the end with a bright red fruit backbone. Drink from 2025.James Suckling | 92 JS

Past vintages of this wine were called Roncaglie Masseria, but the word Masseria has been removed. The Vietti 2021 Barbaresco Roncaglie draws its fruit from inclined vineyards that produce fruit with finesse and elegance. This pretty wine opens to a note of fragrant flower or heritage rose that accompanies you over a long, silky close. In a good vintage like 2021, vintners could push skin macerations a little longer. This wine saw 25 days on the skins compared to 22 days in the 2022 vintage. Vietti recently purchased land in Rabajà, a site that produces profound wines, and this plot in Roncaglie has a greater presence of sand in its soils, creating more floral and delicate expressions instead. This matures in large oak casks for 24 months, and production is 6,066 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2021 Barbaresco Roncaglie is a powerful, tightly wound wine. Blood orange, mint, cinnamon and white pepper open, but only with great reluctance. Brisk acids and pulsating tannins need time to soften. There’s fabulous density lurking beneath. This is a gorgeous wine in the making.Vinous Media | 95 VM