2017  

The clarity of the ripe blackcurrants, black cherries and flowers in the nose is entrancing. Lavender, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, silky tannins that run long and straight through the wine, providing brightness and focus. Goes on for minutes. Strength with finesse Drink after 2024, but already wonderful to taste. - 98pts JS ---- The 2017 Masseto is a spectacular wine in the making. Rich and sumptuous in the glass, the 2017 possesses off the charts intensity and plenty of structure as well. Red cherry jam, mocha, leather, licorice and a dash of new oak are all fused together in an opulent, seamless Masseto endowed with magnificent balance. The 2017 is quite simply a remarkable wine for such a challenging year. I can't wait to taste it from bottle. - 96-99pts AG/Vin ---- The Masseto 2017 Masseto puts on another exhilarating, knock-out performance for the third year in a row. The Masseto vineyard is a triangular-shaped plot tucked in at the back of the same property that houses the Ornellaia vineyards and winery. This special site is located at the base of the mountains that rise gently from the Tyrrhenian Sea, with the picturesque silhouette of the Castiglioncello castle at the top. The vines are planted at an altitude of 80 to 100 meters above sea level in blue clay soils that are unique to Bolgheri. That ideal position opens the vineyards to soft breezes, proximity to the sea, long daylight hours and cool diurnal shifts from the protective wall of low mountains at the back. It's a little garden of Merlot Eden. The center of the vineyard now is home to the new Masseto winery and an adjacent tasting room built into a pre-existing farmhouse. This wine was made in the old winery (the existing Ornellaia winery). Fermentation kicks off in a combination of steel and oak tanks before the wine is racked over to barrique, where it rests for two years. The wine then goes into bottle for 12 months before its release. Like most vintages of Masseto tasted this early in the game, the oak is omnipresent, and it grounds the wine in terms of texture and structure. It is powerful, but that's always the case with Masseto (this vintage records a 15.5% alcohol content). I tasted this wine next to the decidedly more playful Massetino, and the Masseto moves over the palate with substantial fruit weight and concentration gained over the course of this hot and dry growing season (which produced smaller, richer and more compact berries). Perhaps, what this vintage lacks is that profound varietal character that we saw in recent vintages like 2016 and 2015. If concerned that the hot vintage would draw out too many ripe fruit tones, the oak serves to soften some of the more volatile components of the fruit. Those distinctive notes of macchia mediterranea (wild bush) that I always associate with Masseto are less present in this vintage. You feel the oak tannins on the finish with toast and vanilla that will certainly shed as the wine ages. In fact, I went back to taste the wine 12 hours later, and they had already softened considerably. This 2017 vintage will be released in October 2020. - 97pts WA

2015  

"Fresh, savory and supple in texture, delivering rose, cherry, plum, leather and wild herb aromas and flavors. Shows a hint of chocolate, but this is more about the purity of fruit. Rich and almost sumptuous, this red stays elegant, providing a vibrant structure for support. Fine length. Best from 2023 through 2043. 1,546 cases made. " - 95pts WS

2013  Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino Fornace

"Le Ragnaie's 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Fornace is a slightly more robust and structured expression. It has a sturdier vinous exoskeleton, so to speak. For this reason, it needs longer to age and will undoubtedly benefit from more years in your cellar. In fact, I tasted this wine several times over the course of many hours and was delighted by the steady and positive evolution it showed. Given time, the wine gives wild berry and earthy tones that come together with encouraging symmetry." - 94pts WA

2013  Single Vineyard Montelpulciano d' Abruzzo

Single Vineyard Montelpulciano d' Abruzzo

2018  

A blend of Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese ---- Aromas of - violet, rose, truffle, earth, coffee, leather, spice box, cedar, dark fruit, asparagus, green pepper and red fruit. Flavors of - currant, black cherry, plum, bell pepper, olive, oak, smoke, toast, tar, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, red fruit and raspberry.

2016  Barolo

1998  

2001  Castelgiocondo Riserva 'Ripe al Convento'

Castelgiocondo is produced from an uncompromising selection of the finest Sangiovese grapes, in a vineyard whose ideal elevation, well-drained soils, and southwest-facing exposure yield all of the qualities that converge to produce the finest expression of this ancient grape variety. It is an elegant, well-balanced wine of magnificent structure.

2016  

Franz Gojer is a master of Schiava and Lagrein. These two varietals which find their homes in the northern reaches of the Alto Adige are about as far from the mainstream as you can get, but each is a truly unique and vibrant example of the best that this mountainous region can produce. Lagrein, on the other hand, is cut from a bigger and darker cloth. A cousin of Syrah, its deep brambly base notes and core of black fruit are all balanced by an underlying mountain acidity and minerality imparted by the soils and climate of the region. -- The Lagrein Granat is sourced from vineyards in the town of Ora, about 30 minutes south of Bolzano. The soil here is alluvial thought it has some porphyry as well. Aged in large botti, this is beautifully made, blanced Lagrein that is delicious on release but has the potential to improve over time as well. -- 13% alcohol.

2000  

100% Sangiovese. "The 2000 Fontalloro, as always, represents the estate’s best Sangiovese, from a vineyard which is partly inside and partly outside the appellation limits. A dark, deep ruby/garnet, its powerful nose of kirsch and plums is given additional complexity by the aromas of tobacco, damp earth, and underbrush which always characterize this wine. Rich in extract, firm and sustained in flavor, its tannins are more approachable than those of the two Riserva bottlings, but it will doubtlessly last longer as well, till the middle of the next decade if not longer." - 90pts WA, 91pts WS

2001  Merlot

"The 2001 Montiano, 100% Merlot, offers the luxuriously sweet and expansive nose which has always characterized the wine. Full of plum, raspberry, and dark chocolate scents, along with a dense, deep, and velvety palate, it is full and round, with the super-polished tannins which make it one of Italy's touchstone Merlot bottlings. Drink: 2005-2018." -Wine Advocate

2013