Wine Ratings

wines

The awesome 1997 Sori Tilden (10,000 bottles produced) is a candidate for perfection. The saturated purple color is followed by a dense, full-bodied wine possessing extraordinary vibrancy for such a heavyweight, muscular Nebbiolo. It offers a super-sweet entry, a boatload of glycerin, and notes of earth, licorice, cedar, blackberry and cherry liqueur, and a touch of blueberries. Extremely full, gorgeously pure, with a seamless texture, this spectacular 1997 will enjoy three decades of cellaring.A genius for sure, Angelo Gaja can not be faulted for what he puts in the bottle. This work of art is worth every cent it will fetch.Robert Parker | 99 RPDark ruby red. Loads of porcini aromas and some raisin and spices. Then turns to flowers. Full-bodied, superconcentrated and supertannic. This is such a baby, but there's loads of everything here. From berry, vanilla to raspberry and blackberry. A wine to age for a very long time. Even better than I remember.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2012. 800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSFull ruby. Profound yet rather reticent nose hints at blackberry and violet; less roasted than the Costa Russi and more precise. Lush, thick and large-scaled, with great penetrating sweetness. Voluptuous and mouthfilling yet sharply delineated at the same time. Amazingly thick, seamless Barbaresco, finishing with lush tannins and uncanny persistence. This too has filled out and harmonized since the first time I tasted it.Vinous Media | 95+ VM

Sweet and succulent aromas of tangerines, freshly cut ripe strawberries, cherries and flowers follow through to a full-bodied palate with sleek and dense tannins that run the length of the wine and then fan out into a dense, vivid finish of fruit. It’s chewy and seriously structured with finesse and energy. Silky texture. This needs at least four or five years to come together and open. Try after 2027.James Suckling | 98 JS

So perfumed and complex, with tangerines, jasmine, cedar, black truffle and iron. Full-bodied and very structured. Fantastic structure for the vintage. Very Barolo-like in structure. Available in 2023. Give this at least four or five years to soften.James Suckling | 98 JS

Combining power, intensity, class and great fruit, Produttori’s 2019 Montestefano Riserva is a phenomenal wine and a quintessential expression of this fantastic cru. It opens with heady aromas of new leather, Alpine herb, pressed rose, ripe dark-skinned berry and forest floor. It has the most Barolo-like structure of all the firm’s crus, delivering ripe Morello cherry, succulent raspberry, licorice and tobacco alongside a network of firm tannins that are more reminiscent of Serralunga than Barbaresco. A magnificent wine, with incredible aging potential. Drink 2031–2049. Abv: 14.5% Kerin O’Keefe | 99 KOThe 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is perhaps the most complete of the 2019 Riservas at this stage. It offers fine depth, plenty of tannin and nascent emerging inner sweetness to tie it all together. A wine of stature and textural depth, the Montestefano is my early favorite in this lineup.Vinous Media | 95 VM

The 2021 Barbaresco Montestefano is one of the very best young wines I have tasted here. Dark, rich and intense, but also light on its feet, the 2021 dazzles from the very first taste. Dark red/blue fruit, lavender, licorice, gravel, dried herbs and menthol open with a bit of coaxing. The Montestefano possesses striking mid-palate depth, compelling inner perfume and mind-blowing balance. I loved it.Vinous Media | 98 VM