Red Wines

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Mascarello’s 2007 Barolo shows just how compelling this vintage can be, even now. Sensual, layered and totally voluptuous in the glass, the 2007 shows the more flamboyant side of Barolo. I find the wine’s voluptuous, engaging personality impossible to resist. Sure, 2007 is not a classic vintage, but when a wine is this good, I say: Who cares?Vinous Media | 97 VMThe 2007 Barolo has grown tremendously over the last few months. Some bottles have been more closed than others, but what is certain is that the wine is putting on weight. The 2007 appears to have a long drinking window ahead. It is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2037.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPMascarello presents an outstanding 2007 base Barolo (with fruit sourced from the Barolo and La Morra zones) that is packed extra tight with generosity, concentration and rich chocolate, cherry and leather aromas. The long finish is soft and velvety, but the tannins and acidity guarantee a long future ahead.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

Deep garnet colored with just a hint of brick, the 2007 Proprietary Red Paradise Hills Vineyard opens with compelling notes of baked plums, blackberry tart and fruitcake with an undercurrent of dried Provence herbs, menthol, beef drippings, unsmoked cigars and cedar chest. The concentrated, full-bodied palate is laden with minted black fruits and meaty/savory flavors, framed with a firm, grainy texture and wonderful freshness, finishing very long.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RP(14.9% alcohol): Full medium ruby. Some slightly porty high tones to the aromas and flavors of black plum, espresso, licorice, violet and tar. Wonderfully suave, sweet wine with terrific depth of texture and harmonious balancing acidity. With its balance, energy and intensity, this wonderfully long, juicy wine is approachable and complex already, but will still improve and gain in nuance for many more years in the bottle. The ripe tannins saturate the molars.Vinous Media | 94+ VMA fragrant nose of deep dark fruits, cigar box, roasted coffee, vanilla bean, and hints of flowers. Full bodied and velvety with dark luscious fruits. Very round with a very soft palate and a velvety texture. Very yummy and delicious right now but will get even better after 2014. 14+23+23+32. Find the wineJames Suckling | 92 JS

Good full red. Flamboyant, soil-inflected nose offers raspberry, minerals and iodine, with exotic suggestions of white flowers and apricot. Then lush, silky and utterly seamless, combining an exotic perfume with great inner-mouth energy. The wonderfully subtle, kaleidoscopic finish throws off scents of raspberry, minerals, flowers and minerals and goes on and on.Vinous Media | 95 VMStill very young, this is showing the proper staying power of a powerful wine. The structure is complex and dense, the plum and cranberry fruits are wrapped in tannins and hints of wood. The wine powers through the palate, promising long-term aging. A great success for the vintage.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WERose petal, fennel, licorice, raspberry and dark cherry, and decadent gaminess in the nose of Bouchard’s 2007 Chambertin Clos de Beze lead into a correspondingly complex palate that combines a silken texture with bright, penetrating fruit of a sort rare in 2007. Persistently alluring rose and peony perfume lends persistent allure as this finishes with delightful and profound interaction of fruit, mineral, floral, and animal elements. It should be worth following for at least 12-15 years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPAs it usually does, this offers another level of aromatic complexity with a highly spiced nose trimmed in a subtle touch of wood that does not interfere with the overall transparency of either the nose or the palate as this is pure, classy and refined. Moreover, the tannins are also more refined, which is unusual, and this completely stains the palate on the hugely long finish. A balanced, stylish and beguiling Bèze that is built to age, and improve, for up to two decades.Burghound | 93-95 BH

The 2007 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is a massive, towering wine of majestic proportions. Everything comes together in the glass; expressive aromatics, striking fruit, powerful yet silky tannins and a long, impeccable finish. This complex, kaleidoscopic Barbaresco is a wine for the ages. The Riserva Asili is a surprisingly powerful wine from this vineyard. Readers will have to wait until 2011, when the wine is released, to taste this utterly profound Barbaresco. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2037.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPGiacosa’s 2007 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is flamboyant, exotically ripe and stunning in its absolute beauty. Bright red cherry fruit, rose petal, violet and mint abound in a spellbinding, utterly thrilling Barbaresco. I have always adored the 2007. Once again, it is pure magic.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThis will be in the market in 2012. This is full and rich with irresistible silky tannins. This brings more substance and richness than the white label. Lay this down until 2016. 10,000 bottles.James Suckling | 98 JSBursting with sweet cherry, floral, licorice and spice flavors, this ripe red is expressive, supple, balanced and dense, showing the structure to age and a finish of fig and tobacco notes. Best from 2016 through 2030. 170 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

A very opulent, yet fresh nose. Perfumed with fresh mushrooms, currants, and blackberries. Full bodied with an amazing density of fruit, and ripe velvety tannins. So big and compacted, with a superb structure. Very 2006 in style but with much more intensity. The fruit amazing and intense. Leave this for another five or six years. 900 cases. Pull the cork after 2016. 15+25+24+34. Find the wineJames Suckling | 98 JSPotentially a candidate for perfection, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is the finest Bryant Family wine since the aforementioned 1997. Striking aromas and flavors of blackberries, blueberries, flowers, smoke, truffles, and sweet berries lead to a wine with profound concentration, a silky, layered mouthfeel, perfect integration of tannin and wood, and remarkable depth, intensity, and balance. The finish lasts nearly a minute. This stunning Cabernet should age nicely for 20-30 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPAt points rustic and rough-hewn, but also enormously complex and layered, with dense, elegant herb, olive, cedar, blackberry and wild berry fruit that is full-blown and tightly focused, rich and layered, gaining velocity on the finish while retaining a sense of wildness. Best from 2012 through 2024. 850 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(14.9%): Healthy ruby-red. Wild plum, dark berries, musky espresso, mocha and graphite on the varietally expressive nose. Shows wonderful mineral verve but this utterly seamless wine still conveys a musky suggestion of reduction. It's also more red than black fruit in style and shows its site more than the vintage character. Really lovely inner-mouth aromatic perfume here. Finishes with fine-grained tannins and lovely slowly building lift. This wine blew away many of the portier, clunkier examples in my 2007 group tastings but it may need earlier drinking than some vintages of Bryant. The silky, seamless finish features a light touch and terrific spice and mocha lift.Vinous Media | 95 VM

The estate’s 2007 Barolo Ginestra Vigna Casa Mate is quite a bit fresher and firmer than the Gavarini. The exuberant personality of the vintage is also a bit more balanced and restrained. This is a beautifully layered, textured Ginestra Casa Mate endowed with endless layers of dark, mineral-infused, balsamic-tinged dark fruit, all of which flow through effortlessly to a long, sumptuous finish that lasts forever. The stunning bouquet, purity of the fruit and overall balance are simply breathtaking. The Ginestra Casa Mate will be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years and decades. Could it be a modern-day 1990? Anticipated maturity: 2017-2032.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe estate's 2007 Barolo Ginestra Vigna Casa Matè is quite a bit fresher and firmer than the Gavarini. The exuberant personality of the vintage is also a bit more balanced and restrained. This is a beautifully layered, textured Ginestra Casa Matè endowed with endless layers of dark, mineral-infused, balsamic-tinged dark fruit, all of which flow through effortlessly to a long, sumptuous finish that lasts forever. The stunning bouquet, purity of the fruit and overall balance are simply breathtaking. This will be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years and decades. Could this be a modern-day 1990?Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is really wonderful with an fabulous depth of fruit and savoriness. Full-bodied, with super velvety tannins and chalky, cedar and dried meat undertones with fruit. So subtle yet full of everything. Better in 2014.James Suckling | 95 JS

The 2007 Les Pavots, a Bordeaux varietal blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, is brilliant. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by gorgeously complex aromas of melted chocolate, espresso roast, blackberries, and cassis. Full-bodied with a superb texture, a subtle note of oak, and fabulous concentration, it is more reminiscent of a Right Bank Bordeaux than one expects with this much Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. A thirty-year wine, its impeccable balance and the sweetness of its tannins make it accessible already.Robert Parker | 97 RPA little tight and firm. Some might call this lean but I like the dark chocolate and blueberry character. Finishes with some chewy tannins, wait until 2014. 14+23+23+33. Find the wineJames Suckling | 93 JS(70% cabernet sauvignon, 17% cabernet franc, 10% merlot and 3% petit verdot) Vivid ruby. Youthfully backward aromas of cassis, violet, licorice and tobacco. Chewy dark berry and bitter cherry flavors are framed by solid tannins and complemented by smoky mineral and sweet chewing tobacco elements. Tough to read but highly concentrated, showing a strong finishing licorice and smoky mineral character and a lingering cherry pit note. Give this at least a few more years of bottle aging.Vinous Media | 93 VMZeroes in on intense dark berry, graphite, mineral and cedary oak flavors, supported by firm, grippy and gritty tannins. The flavors are vibrant yet drying, suggesting that this should be drunk sooner rather than later. Both bottles of this noteworthy wine were good but not great. Slightly off the usual pace. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.—Blind 1997/2007 California Cabernet retrospective (January 2017). Drink now through 2022. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 3,060 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Blueberries, currants and flowers. The nose just pops out. Intense. Full body, with a round and velvety tannin structure and lots of currants, ripe strawberries. Very intense every. Black pepper at the finish. Muscular yet toned. Very structured yet balanced. This needs a minimum of four to five years of aging. Paul Draper says that perhaps this is as great as the legendary 1991. Made for aging.James Suckling | 97 JS(Cabernet Sauvignon “Monte Bello”- Ridge Vineyards) The 2007 Monte Bello weighs in at a very grown up 13.1 percent alcohol and is a great, great wine in the making. The nose is deep, complex and flat out brilliant, as it offers up scents of pure cassis, a touch of bell pepper, tobacco leaf, espresso, a beautifully complex base of soil and a deft touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly seamless, with a rock solid core of fruit, beautiful, nascent complexity, ripe, well-integrated tannins and stunning length and grip on the palate-staining finish. A stellar Monte Bello. (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGRelatively fat for a Monte Bello, this wine shows its richness in fruit rather than playing on weight gained from oak. The freshness of the fruit keeps it firm, finely balanced and clean, a more accessible young wine than this vineyard tends to give. There's a pure cassis flavor running through it, emphasizing the clarity of lovely, ripe Cabernet. As approachable as it may be now, it's substantial enough to age for a decade or more.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SA retaste of the flagship wine, the 2007 Monte Bello (a blend from this famous estate of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) reveals a dense ruby/purple wine with a floral, blueberry, and earthy cassis nose and elegant mid-weight flavors with impressive purity and classicism. There is good acidity, firm tannin, and modest alcohol (13.1%). This is not the most concentrated or powerful Monte Bello, but one built on finesse and elegance. According to the back label, only 41% of the production made it into this wine from the 103-acre estate vineyard. Give this wine another good 5-7 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 20-25 years.Robert Parker | 92+ RP(13.1% alcohol): Bright ruby-red. Pungent, fresh scents of currant, mocha, tobacco leaf, graphite minerality and brown spices, plus a whiff of leather. A penetrating, youthfully tight midweight with a lovely claret-like balance of currant fruit, minerals and herbal, tobacco-leafy elements. Smooth in texture but enlivened by elevated, almost peppery acidity. Finishes with an element of energy and finesse I don't find in many high-octane Napa Valley examples from this vintage, but then this is a less massive style of Cabernet. The persistent finishing flavors blow past the firm tannins but there's little in the way of easy sweetness today. In fact, I suspect this wine is passing through a sullen stage.Vinous Media | 92+ VM

The Cabernet Sauvignon from the Aida Vineyard is becoming one of the most exceptional northern Napa Valley Cabernets, with a production ranging between 600-700 cases. An exquisite wine in the making is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Vineyard. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, it exhibits an inky purple color in addition to a beautiful nose of graphite, creme de cassis, melted licorice, charcoal, and melted asphalt, terrific stuffing, silky tannins, a noble sweetness that comes from the purity and ripeness of the fruit, and a 45+ second finish. This fabulous Cabernet should drink well for 20-25 years.Robert Parker | 95-98 RP(14.8% alcohol): Bright medium ruby. Truffley, musky scents of black raspberry, tobacco leaf, smoke, gravel, peppery herbs and licorice. Suave and surprisingly sweeet, conveying a gamey, truffley aspect to its dark berry and plum flavors. Nicely concentrated, fine-grained wine with a slightly roasted fruit element, a cooler medicinal quality, and substantial dusty tannins.Vinous Media | 91 VM