Wines

95 Points! A tightly focused beam of bitter cherry, damson plum and raspberry coulis streams through, with mouthwatering cut in the form of ocean breeze minerality that runs from start to finish. Iris and rose hip notes fill in the background as the long, piercing finish shows a remarkably pure and unadorned feel. A high-definition Pinot. Drink now through 2035. - Wine Spectator

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

97 Points! Wow. This is very powerful 2010 Barolo with a great depth of fruit and powerful tannins. Full and super-structured Barolo. Goes on for minutes. Great wine from a popular vintage. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Beginning to turn the corner, this red exhibits fragrant aromas of cherry, leather, mushroom and spice. Smooth and full of ripe fruit, with a firm structure for support. Still needs some time, but already shows complexity and harmony. Best from 2018 through 2035. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! With fruit from Castiglione Falletto, the 2019 Barolo Villero is graceful and light with a beautifully silky approach to the palate. It is pleasing to the eye, thanks to the shiny ruby color that is characteristic of this vintage, and to the nose, thanks to a graceful bouquet with redcurrant, spice and blue flower. It shows similar traits to the mouth, thanks to a very sharp or linear element. Oddero's Villero knocks it out of the park across this portfolio of new releases. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2018 Riesling Vulkan opens with a pure, fresh and herbal, slightly flinty and still yeasty bouquet of crushed stones. Lush and round on the palate, this is a bone-dry, linear, fresh and elegant, very pure and grippy Riesling from Odinstal. The finish is salty, piquant and tight. A gorgeous wine that was bottled with no more than 29 milligrams per liter of total SO2. Tasted in Odinstal in December 2019.  - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

97 Points! The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass.The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! Generous, with savory aromas of ripe blackcurrants and fresh black cherries and a gentle texture that shows a slight nip of tannin. It is well structured and a bit tight, which is normal for a young cabernet sauvignon-based red that’s a proven collectible. Gives up graphite and pencil shavings, some cocoa and espresso. Full-bodied. Spicy, toasty oak is really showing through right now. Best from 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass.The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! Generous, with savory aromas of ripe blackcurrants and fresh black cherries and a gentle texture that shows a slight nip of tannin. It is well structured and a bit tight, which is normal for a young cabernet sauvignon-based red that’s a proven collectible. Gives up graphite and pencil shavings, some cocoa and espresso. Full-bodied. Spicy, toasty oak is really showing through right now. Best from 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! A vibrant red, with a tasty burst of boysenberry and blackberry compote notes leading the way. Displaying singed alder, cocoa, tobacco and licorice snap elements, this offers enough energy to keep the finish going. Drink now through 2034. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

92 Points! A proprietary red blend of Petite Sirah, Grenache, Syrah, and Zinfandel aged eight months in 31% new oak. Orin Swift has opened a new, lovely tasting lounge in the town of St. Helena, CA and is worth a visit for those coming to the Napa Valley. Dave Phinney, the founder of Orin Swift, calls all the picks and continues working and honing these wines in the cellar. Rich black cherry, toffee, and caramel spices lead to a full-bodied wine with red berry fruit and chocolatey, robust, chewy tannins. The long fruit driven finish offers ample brown spices and toasty cedarwood. - Decanter Magazine

91 Points! Potent and dense, with brooding flavors of blackberry and cherry accented by bitter chocolate, cracked pepper and savory meat tones as this builds tannins on the finish. Grenache, Syrah and Petit Sirah. Best after 2025. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! A proprietary red blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Syrah aged seven months in 32% new oak. Brambly red berry fruit, red spices, curry, coriander, cumin, and cedarwood were kissed with vanilla. Round, rich, silken red berry fruits, strawberry preserves, and grilled herbs are harnessed by intricate tannins of fine-grained cedarwood with a long saline mineral finish augmented by crunchy cinnamon-kissed red berry fruits. - Decanter Magazine

92 Points! The 2020 ‘Machete’ is a proprietary blend of Petite Sirah, Syrah and Grenache that was stored in 34% new French oak for 14 months before bottling. A soft texture greets you as green peppercorns greet you alongside black currant jelly, cigar ash and dark chocolate shavings with kirsch cordial notes. Considering the vintage, this is a really good effort. - Owen Bargreen

95 Points! Displays beautiful aromas of ripe fruit, with currant, plum and blackberry. Complex and full-bodied, with soft, polished tannins and a long, long finish. This shows a deft hand in the winemaking. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! Still very young. Shows complex aromas of ripe fruit, blackberries, plums and currants. Polished, with soft tannins, a full body and a very long finish. - James Suckling, 2013

94 Points! The 2005 Ornellaia opens with striking, compelling aromatics that draw the taster in. Still deep, rich and intense throughout, the 2005 has held up beautifully. Sweet herbs, tobacco, spices, sage and plums add shades of dimension to a core of super-ripe, exotic fruit that is one of the vestiges of a late-ripening vintage in which the fruit was allowed to hang until the very end. The 2005 remains an infant. It should drink well for another 15+ years. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 2015

93 Points! Notes of pastry, roasted pineapple, minerals, cashews and fine lees on the nose. This is a flavorful and round verdejo, but subtle and tactile, with a bright streak of acidity passing through the palate and leaving a broad but fresh-toned mouth-feel. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Bassi Vineyard begins with flinty mineral tones that give way to preserved lemon, saline, acacia and beeswax. The light-bodied palate is bright and saline-driven, its energy balanced by concentrated citrus fruit and a touch of textural grip through the long finish. Only 120 cases were made. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

100 Points! Each year, the blend of Ovid wines varies depending on the vintage. Winemaker Austin Peterson prefers not to pre-plan the blend, instead approaching each vintage with a fresh perspective. Often, the wine needs more Cabernet Sauvignon to qualify as a Napa Valley varietal wine. The vineyard features an abundance of Clone 4, planted across four of its 17 blocks within the 6ha site. This clone contributes a distinctive savoury character and polish, evident in the 2021 vintage with its flinty minerals, green tobacco, and mulberry fruit, reminiscent of Napa Cabernets from the 1970s. Comprising 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the wine is aged 20 months in 66% new French oak. It is full-bodied with ripe, chewy tannins that assert themselves on entry but gradually soften, revealing a beautifully layered wine with mineral-infused mulberry fruit and green tobacco aromas. The wine exhibits notable tension, supported by a pH level 3.78, ensuring vibrancy and freshness. It is a pedigreed wine characterised by balance, intensity, and complexity. - Decanter Magazine

100 Points! Moving to the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, it's 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and the balanced 7% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Insanely pure, it offers kaleidoscope-like aromatics of black and blue fruits, spring flowers, chocolate, burning embers, and bouquet garni. Full-bodied on the palate, it doesn't get any better, and it's concentrated, has building tannins, and a monster of a finish. Offering more generosity and opulence than just about every other wine in the vintage, this is a killer bottle of wine! It will make your eyes roll back in your head today, yet will ideally be given 4-5 years of bottle age and will evolve gracefully over the following two decades. Bravo!

96 Points! Velvety tannins, perfumed floral nose, opening to cedar, mint leaf, red cherry puree, all expanding outwards through the palate, with finely boned tannins adding a touch of control. Plenty of tertiary notes of truffles, campfire smoke and saffron-laced spices, but the fruit is still very much in tact. As it opens further you get intense aromatics of violet and exotic spices. You could sit with this for hours, just enjoying how finessed Cabernet Sauvignon can become with age - and how the clay that underpins the gravels on so much of Palmer's vineyard has helped keep freshness. Exceptional, and it has been delivering at this level for at least a decade. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, September 2021  

95 Points! The 1990 Palmer has long been one of my favorite vintages; at 31 years of age, it is still utterly sublime. It opens wonderfully in the glass with blackberry, forest floor, crushed iris petals and just a touch of dried blood. You would actually think that this comes from a cooler growing season. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. This has evolved since I last tasted it, mellowed and lost some of its plumpness, becoming more linear and almost reserved towards the finish. There's a touch of green bell pepper on the aftertaste. Wonderful. - Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2022

95 Points! The 2012 Palmer is already offering demonstrative drinking at age 10, bursting with aromas of cherries, blackberries, violets and spices, framed by a lavish application of creamy new oak. Full-bodied, ample and enveloping, it's fleshy and sensual, with a deep and layered core of fruit that's discreetly underpinned by succulent acids and sweet, powdery tannins. Concentrated, broad and persistent, this is one of the most successful wines of the vintage, as well as one of the most dramatic. Thomas Duroux is crafting more integrated, less overtly oaky wines at Palmer today, but this 2012 is nonetheless a terrific effort. Château Palmer now systematically holds back an important percentage of its production for later release, and this September it's the turn of the 2012, a dramatic, sensual wine that is one of the clear successes of the vintage. - William Kelley, robertparker.com 2022

97 Points! A showstopper of a wine that offers a fragranced nose of purple flowers, blackcurrant, cola and liquorice. Smooth and silky, this has a gorgeous weight and texture, full and filling, a density of chalky, almost chewy tannins but bright, juicy acidity. Excellent construction, delicately layered but builds to an impressive whole that has such allure on the palate. A joyous wine brilliantly delivered. - Decanter Magazine

95+ Points! The 2021 Palmer has turned out beautifully in bottle, wafting from the glass with expressive aromas of blackberries, cherries and mulberries mingled with notions of iris, dark chocolate and spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with an enveloping core of succulent fruit framed by rich, sweet tannins, it concludes with a long, expansive finish. It's a blend of 56% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

95 Points! This wine is very fragrant, with blackberries, blueberries, black olives, bark and forest floor as well as some minerals and stone. Medium-bodied with racy and firm tannins that build to a fresh and steely finish. Needs three to five years to soften. You can almost taste the skins. Reminiscent of the 1995 Palmer but with more precision. 56% merlot, 41% cabernet sauvignon and 3% petit verdot. Best after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com