Wines

92 Points! Intense cinnamon spice on the nose, together with vibrant aromas of cherry jelly and pressed flowers. Medium-bodied with a graceful attack, firm light tannins and crisp, brilliant and juicy acidity that packs a punch. Overall it’s crunchy in style. Licorice in the aftertaste. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2021 Barbaresco Ovello Vigna Loreto is powerful and explosive in the glass. A rush of wild red cherry, spice, kirsch, menthol, rose petals and incense races across the palate. Deep, savory and intensely mineral, the 2021 is magnificent. Readers will find a wine of stature and pure breeding. Superb. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! The Poderi Aldo Conterno 2020 Barolo Bussia is a fine and silky wine with the elegant power that is characteristics of this special cru. The wine shows bright fruit flavors with cherry and blackcurrant followed by earthy iris root and licorice. There is a hint of perfume or church incense. That pretty intensity follows through to the palate with balanced freshness and lasting medium-plus richness. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! The nose is attractive, with watermelon, leafy lightness, fresh violets and strawberry fruit. The palate is savory and graceful, with a full body, velvety tannins soaked in peach fruit, juicy acidity and a polished aftertaste. A bracing Barolo with at least 10 years of cellaring potential, yet enjoyable now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! His 2021 Barolo sees fruit from vineyards in La Morra, Verduno and Serralunga d'Alba. There is a pretty chalky quality to the wine that you perceive across the senses, especially the bouquet. To that, I would add cocktail cherry and cassis. I am reminded of the Jolly Rancher candies we had as kids. The wine is informal, bright and accessible. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

92 Points! The 2006 Barbaresco Pora impresses for its crystalline purity and inner perfume. This is a rather potent Pora loaded with dark cherries, minerals and French oak that shows surprising richness and intensity for the vintage, most likely owing to the warm microclimate in this site. - Antonio Galloni, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2019 Roero Bricco Medica presents a dark, almost somber expression of Roero. Black cherry, gravel, spice, cured meats, iron, game and incense, along with the wine's sheer structure, convey brooding, virile intensity. Huge tannins wrap it all together. This potent, Serralunga-like Roero is positively lights out. What a wine! - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

92 Points! The estate's 2013 Roero Vigna di Lino is powerful, dense and explosive. Lavender, violet, spice and bluish-hued fruits give the 2013 much of its distinctive personality. Deceptive in its mid-weight structure, the 2013 offers quite a bit of depth. With time in the glass, the wine gains freshness and slightly redder tonalities in its fruit. This is a terrific expression of Roero Nebbiolo. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, 2017

92 Points! A bright ruby color, the 2021 Barbaresco is fresh and floral on the nose, with notes of fresh roses, raspberries, sweet herbs, and fresh peach. Medium-bodied and bright on the palate, with tangy citrus taking the lead, it offers finely coiled tannins, zesty acidity, and a chalky texture, then turns to more tangy cranberry-noted fruit, with a good bit of grip on the sides of the palate. This is a refreshing and energetic Barbaresco to drink over the next 10-12 years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

95 Points! A fine-tuned, elegant Barolo with aromas of dried cherries, dried roses, licorice and mint. Full-bodied, it shows smoothness, density, weight and soft tannins despite the structure, with refreshing acidity and a long, vibrant finish full of savory flavors. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Laced with cherry, strawberry, rose, mineral and white pepper flavors, this red is expressive despite being linear and taut. Firms up on the finish, where lively acidity drives the fruit and savory elements. Shows excellent harmony and potential. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! A blend of fruit from five MGA sites (Brunate, Liste, Cerequio, Cannubi and Raviole)...The Damilano 2021 Barolo Lecinquevigne offers nice intensity and standard Nebbiolo complexity with dark fruit, cassis, spice and toasted tobacco leaf. You do not taste the personality of any one site, but that's not the point. Aged in large botte, the wine is open-knit in texture and immediate. You can wait longer or pull the cork now. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Ciabot Mentin (with 5,500 bottles made with fruit from vines planted in 1978) is a bit closed initially. This is a trait I found across a vintage that gives us good reason to bet on long bottle-aging potential. There is dark fruit and spice with licorice and grilled herb. Rusty mineral nuances also emerge slowly from the bouquet. This wine needs a double decant if consumed on the young side, but you're better off waiting. I came back to my open sample 24 hours later, and the wine was singing beautifully. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Aromas of raspberries, cherries and orange peel follow through to a medium to full body, with firm and very fine tannins that are chewy but fine grained. Bright acidity, too. Try after 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The front of this bottle now lists its MGA provenance, Ginestra. The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Pajana shows a more open initial impression (next to the Ciabot Mentin) with soft black fruit. The wine makes a bigger impact in terms of texture with firm structure and silky tannins. It is just a little more open-knit and accessible. Some 5,000 bottles were released, and for the first time, Pajana is aged only in large oak casks (measuring 5,000 liters). - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Also yet to be released is the 2019 Barolo Riserva Cerretta Vigna Bricco, which is deep and expressive of this structured vintage and textbook Serralunga power. It’s sanguine and deep with notes of leather, ripe cherries, dark stony earth, sage, and floral perfume. Fabulous all around, it fills the palate with rich, well-defined tannins, gravelly angular texture, refreshing acidity, and savory notes of tea leaf and truffle on the finish. It’s a contemplative wine built to last the long haul over the next several decades. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

95 Points! The Elio Altare 2019 Barolo Riserva Cerretta shows some tertiary definition with aromas of sambuca, licorice, tar and campfire ash. But it also has a sweet side from the oak, with dusty cinnamon and dried fruit. It is full-bodied with velvety tannins, closing with a hint of sweet cherry liqueur. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! These village-specific wines are growing in popularity, and among the various expressions on the market today, this wine from Verduno is really quite special thanks to its highly distinctive floral aromas and its delicate sense of inner balance. A new project being inaugurated with this vintage, the Fratelli Alessandria 2019 Barolo del Comune di Verduno shows a fine, streamlined mouthfeel with polished tones of river stone, crushed rose and licorice root. The aromas are refined and fragile. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

100% Nebbiolo from clay, sand, and limestone soils in the heart of the Cannubi vineyard in Barolo

Sourced from three vineyard parcels: Gourat, Battista, and Nuova

Maceration takes place for 30-40 days in large oak casks, with frequent use of remontage

Aged for 30 months in oak casks, plus a further 6 months aging in horizontal racks

97 Points! A recurrent question with amply aged Italian classic reds like Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino is whether or not the extra ageing stipulations in place for the Riserva categories are truly necessary; it can often seem as if younger versions have the edge on older, 'grander' wines, since they show brighter fruit structures. This 2019 Riserva illustrates the benefits of extra age. It's pale, now, with some gentle bricking at the meniscus; the aromas are refined and harmonious, packed not just with red fruits but with autumnal warmth and oak-copse charm, as if the wine was evoking the landscape in which it came into being. On the tongue, it's still quite grandly structured and clearly has further development ahead; look behind those succulent if ample tannins, though, and you'll find beautifully articulated fruit supported by deft redcurrant acidity. Grand Barolo from this outstanding vintage. - Decanter World Wine Awards

93 Points! In the bottle with the red wax capsule, the Fratelli Serio & Battista Borgogno 2019 Barolo Riserva Cannubi shows a hint of tertiary definition with faded fruit, autumnal leaf and black tea. The wine is finely knit in terms of mouthfeel, and you get a slightly textured effect with granular tannins. Fruit is selected from one part, the Vigna Battista, of the three parcels farmed in Cannubi, with southern exposures on sand, silt and clay. That limestone sand is what adds the special finesse to Cannubi fruit, typically, although climate change has complicated things. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

97 Points! Lavender and sage with berries and dried strawberries, but so perfumed and subtle. Medium- to full-bodied with very fine tannins that are totally integrated with finesse and beauty at the end. Caresses your palate. - JamesSuckling.com  

96 Points! The 2020 Barbaresco Costa Russi is a classy, polished wine. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, new leather, licorice and lavender all take shape. As always, Costa Russi is the most supple and charming of the Gaja Barbarescos in the early going. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! The Gaja 2020 Barbaresco Costa Russi has a rose and floral note that emerges at first, and it doesn't have the heavy dark earth or cured leather aromas that we get in the Barbaresco. This wine is focused on fruit tones, bright ones, and those nuances are juicy, generous and long. There's more youth in this wine, and the tannins are extremely fine and silky. Count on this wine to improve with age. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! The La Spinetta 2019 Barolo Campè Vürsù is balanced and bright with a little more heft and overall fruit concentration. Dried cherry, blackberry, spice and black licorice all appear on the bouquet. This is smooth in consistency but shows a long, polished mouthfeel that is especially tight and elegant in this vintage. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

92 Points! Hailing from vineyards in Dogliani, the 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo from Poderi Einaudi boasts enticing scents of dog rose, violet, red berry and rhubarb. Vinified in steel and cement, the fresh, polished palate features red forest berry, baking spice, graphite and a Mediterranean note recalling myrtle before closing on a hint of rosemary. Thanks to lithe tannins, it’s drinking beautifully right now. - Kerin O'Keefe

93 Points! The flagship 2010 Barolo Brunate benefits from thicker soils to build its structure and intensity. Despite the thicker soils, this is a silky and elegant wine that reflects the best merits of the vintage. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com