Italy

96 Points! Cloves, dark fruit, leather and savory complexity. Youthful, velvety tannins with crisp acidity, a full body and a spicy finish full of blond tobacco and coffee grounds. Drinkable after a year or two, but best from 2031. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Made with Cabernet Sauvignon, the Mazzei 2021 Philip is soft and richly textured with all sorts of blackberry and black fruit aromas packed inside. These come through with special intensity in this balanced vintage. The wine style is contemporary and easily accessible for an international palate. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2020 Uvaggio is a fabulous introduction to this range. Pliant, layered, and wonderfully silky, the 2020 is all charm. Soft contours wrap around red/purplish fruit, dried herbs, rose petals, blood orange, mint and white pepper. This is an especially generous style, but it all works so well. Bright mineral notes extend the effortless, vibrant finish. Dollops of Vespolina and Croatina play off Nebbiolo so well, - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2021 Poggio de Colli, 100% Cabernet Franc, is stunning. It’s peppery and floral throughout, with masses of crushed strawberry and raspberry spiced up by tangerine zest. This impresses further with its wiry textures offset by tantalizing acidity. A core of tart wild berry fruit cascades across the palate, underscored by saline minerals and hints of citrus. Fine-grained tannins emerge through the finish as the 2021 tapers off spicy yet fresh, leaving the mouth watering despite its structure and intensity. This is a ripe vintage for Poggio de Colli, yet it is still a glorious Cabernet Franc that will pay dividends in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

94 Points! Expressive and expansive nose of fresh plums, cherries, cloves, nutmeg, flowers and sandalwood. It’s so transparent and vibrant, with a medium to full body and fine, tight tannins. Gorgeous fruit. From organically grown grapes. Try from 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The San Polo 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Podernovi shows a very earthy side that evokes savory spice, smoke and gamey aromas. The core of this organic wine is colored by black fruit and baked plum, but the wine is primarily driven by the aromas it has picked up during oak and bottle aging. This adds a medium-heavy constitution and a good amount of warm-vintage fruit weight for a Sangiovese. The wine also has an accessible character that makes it best to drink over the next 10 years. The fruit represents a selection from over two hectares. - Monica Larner robertparker.com

94 Points! The organic Planeta 2023 Sicilia Menfi Chardonnay is a creamy and rich interpretation with sweet almond, apricot and Sicilian candied fruit. The wine delivers beautiful intensity over a thickly layered, full-bodied mouthfeel. Fruit comes from the Ulmo vineyard (positioned at 250 meters above sea level) and Maroccoli (at 415 meters in elevation). The wine is aged in Allier French barrique with 40% new oak, 30% second-use and 30% third-use barrel for 11 months. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! Almost Burgundian style to this wine, due to reductive character, with smoky aromas, pink grapefruit and candied cedar. Mellow, full-bodied and opulent with a creamy texture, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. From organically grown grapes. Sustainable. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

A dymanic new Tuscan red from what was one of the main vineyard components for Castello di Ama's famed L'Apparita!

99 Points! Lots of lavender and violets on the nose, together with graphite, lead pencil, iodine and black olives. Full-bodied with extreme class and balance. The ultra-fine tannins are plentiful, yet integrated, and run the length of the wine. A masterpiece. Best after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! A complex, dynamic wine, the 2021 Barbaresco Montersino is redolent of sweet, dried cherry, incense, blood orange, cinnamon, sage and mint. It offers striking translucence and mid-weight structure to round out a super-classic profile. Bright acids extend the clean, precise finish. What a gorgeous wine this is. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! A perfumed nose with cherries, wild strawberries, dried rose hips and pink peppercorns. Juicy and bright on the palate with crunchy tannins. Medium-bodied, tense and focused with a firm finish. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! One of the few 2022 Tuscan wines where you can really see that this will benefit from a few years in bottle, right now it is, hovering on the edge of something delicious, vibrating over the tannic architecture, feathered, campfire smoke, fennel, blackberry, liquorice and crushed peonies, and the bitter fennel and slate scrape, dense, contrast of textures and flavours like only truly great wines can do, a reflection of skilful construction. A gorgeous wine, slowly stretching out in the palate, 65% new oak for ageing.- Jane Anson

97 Points! Tasted a few months after it was bottled, the Ornellaia 2022 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia will be coming to market in March 2025. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. The wine sees 18 months of aging with up to 70% new oak, but the trick, proprietor Lamberto Frescobaldi tells me, is drawing from a large group of coopers with different toast levels and forests. "I don't want to make a wine of any one tonnellerie," he says. The oak element is crucial to the identity of this wine that reveals dark fruit, blackberry, sweet spice and cinnamon. Most of the vines were planted in the 1980s, and the average age of the plants is over 20 years old. Fruit comes from many parcels, including Bellaria, Bellaria Nuova, Bellaria Alta, Pero, Fosso, Vigna Vecchia and Stallina. Indeed, some 80 wines are made before final blending. The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its full-bodied appeal, concentrated fruit and generous oak renderings. Petit Verdot plays a slightly larger role in this vintage and was one of the surprise hits of 2022. It serves to elongate the wine and adds to its length. The wine's abundant fruit weight cedes to elegantly integrated tannins. This vintage will appeal to die-hard Ornellaia enthusiasts. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! Spicy from the first tilt of the glass, the 2022 Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo is impossible to ignore as a pleasant smoky reduction blows off to reveal dried sage, wild strawberries, stone dust and violet pastille. This is pleasantly ripe in style, with a solid core of salty minerals to balance. Crisp wild berry fruits flow across the palate with ease. Blood orange notes combine with a tactile concentration as the 2022 tapers off with sweet tannins that frame the experience nicely. Without a doubt, the 2022 is one of the top Cerasuolos of the year, displaying remarkable complexity and refinement. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

94 Points! A tight and chewy wine with polished tannins. Full and dense with wonderful fruit and a mineral, stone character. Racy wine. Better in 2017. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Compared to the Le Coste di Monforte, this wine is immediately earthier and more savory, with salty mineral notes backed by dark berry and plum. The Amalia Cascina in Langa 2016 Barolo Bussia offers a classic interpretation of Monforte, and there's a lot of depth and complexity to be found in this expression from the Bussia vineyard, one of the largest in the appellation. Specifically, fruit for this wine comes from the Fantini site located at a high 450 meters above sea level. It is characterized by Diano sandstone, one of the four major soil types in the appellation. Vines were planted in 2007. Winemaking is straightforward, with 25 days of extended maceration. Fermentation is kicked off with pump-overs and ends with submerged cap. The wine spends one year in barrique but is then racked over to larger French oak casks for a second year of aging. The wine's approach to the palate is delicate and finessed with silky texture and long flavor persistence. Of the two Barolos from Amalia Cascina in Langa, this wine gets a special nod. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! With certified organic fruit from one of the most celebrated sites in the appellation, the Brezza 2020 Barolo Cannubi shows pretty intensity and focus. It offers aromas of iris root, lilac and wild blueberry. Indeed, it is quite floral in character, with violets over a fine texture. You really get a very pretty and elegant wine in this bottle.- Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! A silky, textured wine, the 2009 Barolo Monvigliero stands out for its refined fruit and gorgeous balance. Nothing is out of place in this polished, elegant Barolo. Sweet red berries, flowers and spicebox are some of the many notes that are layered together in the glass. Any sensation of tannin is nearly non-existent because the fruit is so vivid and present. Over time, the Monvigliero continues to flesh out in all directions, showing why this site is so privileged. Scavino's Monvilgiero is easily one of the most finessed wines of the vintage. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94+ Points! Moving over to Castiglione Falletto, the 2009 Barolo Villero delivers more oak spice and thicker overall density. I loved the aromas of pressed flower and rose, followed by crushed mineral and cola that lift so effortlessly from the glass. This is an ethereal and elegant expression that will undergo a long evolution in the bottle. This and the Barolo Brunate are my favorite Oddero wines in 2009. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2028. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2006 Barolo Bric del Fiasc is a dramatic, sweeping wine that bursts onto the palate in a powerful expression of this Castiglione Falletto vineyard. Dark red fruits, smoke and grilled herbs are just some of the nuances that come to life as this imposing, focused Barolo opens up in the glass. Today, the wine is a touch austere, but in a few years the structure should fill out nicely. It is impossible to ignore the sheer pedigree and class here. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2031. - Antonio Galloni, robertparker.com/Vinous Media

94 Points! A rich, sumptuous Barolo, laced with cherry, plum and mineral aromas and flavors. Complex and well-structured, with a long, fruit- and spice-filled aftertaste. Best from 2013 through 2030. - Wine Spectator

94 Points! Val del Prete's 2015 Roero Riserva is superb, and also one of the best wines I have tasted from Val del Prete in a long time maybe ever. Sweet cinnamon, orange zest, rosewater, dried cherry and mint notes give the 2015 striking aromatic nuance that resonates beautifully on the palate where the wine offers striking fruit purity and silky, noble tannins. All the elements are impeccably balanced in an inviting Roero that hits all the right notes, and then some. This is such a gorgeous wine. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94+ Points! Scavino's 2007 Barolo Monvigliero is by far the most concentrated, rich and structured Barolo I have ever tasted from this historic vineyard in Verduno. Firm yet polished tannins frame an explosive core of dark red fruit, rose petals, mint and spices. The Monvigliero shows marvelous focus and intensity. It is one of the most tannic wines of the vintage, but also one of the most promising. Sweet, floral notes leave a lasting impression on the vivid, textured finish. Scavino's Monvigliero will be a fascinating wine to follow, although I fear it may require significant patience. This is a marvelous debut vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2032. - Antonio Galloni, robertparker.com