Italy

92 Points! The 2022 Le Difese is plump, juicy and expressive, all of which make it a fine choice for drinking now and over the next handful of years. Crushed flowers, succulent red cherry fruit, mint, spice and blood orange all race across the palate. This exuberant yet mid-weight coastal Tuscan red is a total pleasure bomb. The 2022 is an especially fine edition. It benefits from a warm year - which can be a positive for entry-level wines - earlier bottling and selection. Le Difese is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (both estate and non-estate sites) and Sangiovese, all purchased. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

92 Points! Le Difese 2022 is a blend of 55% Sangiovese and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, the former brought in from long-standing partners based in Chianti and Chianti Rufina – ‘In Bolgheri it's not easy to find Sangiovese,’ third-generation Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta explained. 2022 saw slightly lower production than 2021 due to a warm spring and a rainy autumn. Macerations were shorter than previous years, and the wine retains the same blend as last year as part of the estate's continuing plans to make Le Difese approachable almost immediately and give it its own Tuscan identity. Bright red and purple scents with a creamy backdrop and herbal touches lead to a soft and textured palate full of fresh, tangy cherry and dark hedgerow berries. Ripe, precise and sapid with a long, breezy, balsamic finish, Le Difese should be enjoyed over the next decade. - Decanter Magazine

From the importer: The Bronca Sisters' best vineyard is called Particella 68, as is their reserve wine obtained from that vineyard. The site is perhaps 500 yards from the edge of the Cartizze boundary, the most prized growing area in the Prosecco zone; the wine is made from Prosecco grapes with very small amounts of the other traditional indigenous varieties (Verdisio, Bianchetta, and Perera). In my opinion this wine compares very favorably with the best Cartizze in style and in quality, although it is less expensive.

The vinification is unusual for Prosecco; instead of two seperate fermentations, (grape juice to still wine, then still wine to sparkling wine), the Bronca Sister’s Prosecco grapes are pressed and the juice is held at very low temperatures until it is ready to be made into sparkling wine (done periodically throughout the year to maintain the freshest possible stock) upon which time the must is put into a special fermenter and fermented directly to sparkling wine. This more costly single fermentation process retains more of the classic pear aroma that makes Prosecco distinctive, and the excellent acidity of the site balances very well with the Extra Dry level of sweetness. No sugar is added, all of the sweetness comes from the must. 

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

93 Points! Bright and fruity, offering cherry, strawberry, rose and Mediterranean scrub flavors. Shows no shortage of structure, remaining balanced and long. Reveals tobacco and mineral elements on the finish. - Wine Spectator

92 Points! Reverting to a spicy and savory taste profile, the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio shows a dark, mid-weight texture with extra heft that comes in the form of baked plum, candied cherry and spice. This is another good value wine from one of the most beautiful properties (and luxury hotels) in Italy. - 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! Made with a little-known grape present on the sun-kissed island of Ischia with beautiful beaches and thermal baths for more than 200 years, the Casa d'Ambra 2022 Ischia Forastera has a smooth and creamy texture with subtle aromas of orchard fruit, apple and honeydew melon. The wine glides beautifully over the palate with a mildly creamy texture. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

100 Points! Complex aromas of walnut, dark fruit, stone, oyster shell, chalk and dried fruits. This shows fabulous intensity and balance with layer upon layer of fruit and polished tannins. Builds on the palate. It goes on for minutes. - JamesSuckling.com

95+ Points! Made from the estate's oldest vines, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is a bold and powerful wine that shows enormous precision and grit. On the Brunello scale, this expression from Siro Pacenti offers more dark fruit, plum, spice, tar and smoke. The wine reveals beautiful density and an important mouthfeel that hits the palate with seductive determination. This wine is holding up beautifully since I tasted it last and has even improved in terms of its complexity and overall elegance. It still has a long way to go. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com, 2019

95 Points! Beautifully ripe and intense, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino never feels overdone or too heavy. In fact, it treads with the lightest of footprints imparting delicate tones of rose petal, forest berry, white cherry, balsam herb and sweet almond as it flutters over the senses. The main message here is elegance and this wine is profoundly eloquent on the subject. The mouthfeel is tight silky and enduring. Delicate mineral notes give focus and definition to the finish. This is a classic Brunello from an iconic vintage. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! A wine with purity and integration, offering black-cherry, blueberry and orange-peel aromas and flavors. Hot stone, too. Full-bodied and very tight with integrated tannins that go on. Needs time to show it all. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! This red is opulent and bursting with cherry, raspberry, rose and earth flavors, and an underlying spiciness from the new oak. Harmonious and long, refined tannins detail the finish. Best from 2023 through 2043. - 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

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

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

95 Points! Monteraponi follows a Burgundy-adjacent farming philosophy that seeks to carve out distinct identities for strong red and white wines. The top-shelf red from the estate is the organic 2018 Baron'Ugo, a blend of 90% Sangiovese with smaller parts Canaiolo and Colorino for more color and vibrant fruit flavors. This vintage delivers a very clean and polished execution, and there is plenty of freshness, thanks to vineyard positioning at a cool and breezy 560 meters in elevation on limestone alberese soils. The oak is woven in a delicate manner in this wine. Production is 6,600 bottles. This is a little treasure from Tuscany. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! The effusive sliced-pear and white-peach aromas introduce you to this extraordinary, contemporary interpretation of this grape, which is so often dismissed as old-fashioned. The abundant fine tannins remind me of natural wines, but there’s a level of brightness here that’s totally Alpine and gives it remarkable drive at the very long wet-stone finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Delicate and perfumed, with floral hints of white pepper and raspberry, then on to a palate of refined red fruit and spice. - Decanter World Wine Awards

92 Points! Delicious falanghina here, with a burst of pear, floral and mineral aromas and flavors that remain clean and vivid on the medium palate. Fresh, balanced finish with some length. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Vietti is one of a handful of estates to bring the Ravera MGA of Novello to the current popularity it enjoys now. Their 2018 Barolo Ravera has a smoky personality with crushed stone and pencil shavings. There is plenty of dark fruit at the back, ripe cherry and blackberry mostly, and the wine is tonic and firm in terms of its structure and tannins. The Ravera is a wine of enormous length and a finely tuned texture. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! With fruit from La Morra, the mid-weight 2018 Barolo Brunate shows a pretty softness and a delicate side with dried rose, lilac and blue flower. The wine completes malolactic fermentation in barrique and is later moved into large oak casks for aging. This dual oak treatment is part of Vietti's secret recipe for producing the silky tannins and fine texture you taste here. A production of 4,493 bottles, the wine is recognized by that distinctive aromatic finale of licorice and balsam herb. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com