Italy

91 Points! The 2024 Soave Classico Otto impresses with its fresh mix of vividly ripe orchard fruit. It’s airy and lifted with notes of minty herbs, sweet spices and white smoke. A burst of vibrant acidity invigorates the palate as salty minerals saturate. Crisp and clean, the Otto closes with a long, citrus-inflected finish. - Eric Guido, Vinous

91 Points! This has a bright, citrusy, leafy profile with yellow plums and ferns. Tart on the palate with zesty acidity, light body and dairy flavors. The lemony finish is polished yet not long. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! A fragrant red with notes of dried raspberries, strawberries, earth and dried flowers. Medium body with silky tannins and fresh acidity. Crunchy, with plenty of redcurrants in the finish. Not quite complex, but tasty, laid-back and easy to drink. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - Eric Guido, Vinous

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

91 Points! The 2023 Grammatica is conceived as the estate’s foundational wine, much like grammar itself provides the structure for language, with most of the fruit sourced from Cerbaiona’s own vineyards and a small portion of purchased fruit. Aged in third- and fourth-use oak before resting in cement and glass ahead of release, the wine prioritizes clarity and balance. The 2023 vintage delivers appealing volume and texture that remain finely understated, supported by a quietly confident structure that makes the wine especially well suited to the table. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

92 Points! ...the organic Pieropan 2024 Soave Classico is a favorite bottle from Northern Italy for very good reason. This simple expression of Garganega (blended with 15% Trebbiano di Soave for extra richness) offers nice freshness, mineral tones and sweet primary fruit that recalls freshly cut apple and white peach. This was not an easy vintage by any stretch, but this white wine comes out fighting. The Pieropan family does a terrific job with this entry-level release of 560,000 bottles. The grapes are sourced over 60 hectares on volcanic soils, and the wine sees a brief five to six months in cement tank. The process is simple and easy, and the wine is delicious. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

98 Points! Intense, vibrant aromas of strawberries and raspberries, together with cola and flowery notes. Milk and mint nuances, too. Shows a lot of licorice elegance and blood-orange freshness on both the nose and palate with firm, velvety tannins and well-packed, brilliant acidity and a polished finish. Good aftertaste and amazing potential. Very classic. Drinkable now, but best from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! A fresh, balsamic-tinged version, with a core of cherry, raspberry and black pepper notes. Firm, revealing sweet fruit in the end. A good steak or pasta with ragù will provide a good match. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! Sleek and saturated with blackberry, black cherry and pomegranate flavors, this red has density and polished tannins. Balance is this version's hallmark, with hints of mineral, spices and cocoa powder lining the long aftertaste. Drink now through 2033. - Wine Spectator

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

92 Points! Aromas of cherries, dried herbs, strawberry bush, wet stones and subtle spices with some dusty mineral notes. Silky and textured on the medium-bodied palate, it’s deliciously fruity and smooth, with a lingering finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The organic Brancaia 2023 Chianti Classico shows lovely primary intensity with dark cherry and blackcurrant. Barbara Widmer and her team strive for freshness and an easy-drinking experience with this charming wine. Maintaining fruit freshness and elegance is a main goal of this estate, but it also strives to push beyond the classic parameters of Chianti Classico in terms of complexity and depth. I love the brightness of the primary fruit in this wine. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

Points, Wine Spectator's #3 Wine of the Year 2024! Laced with pure cherry, strawberry, graphite and tobacco aromas and flavors, this red is beautifully supported by a backbone of vibrant acidity and taut, refined tannins. Everything is framed by vanilla and toasty oak in the best sense, revealing harmony, with a long, orange-tinged finish and, yes, even drinkability at this stage. Best to give this a few more years in the bottle. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2021 Tignanello is every bit as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel and then just after bottling. Silky and polished, with exceptional finesse, the 2021 has all the pedigree become a modern benchmark for Tignanello and Italian wine more broadly. Bright dark red fruit, blood orange, spice, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco all soar out of the gals, framed by a discreet touch of French oak that adds raciness. In some vintages, the elements are discernible. In 2021, it is the total harmony of the wine that makes the strongest and deepest impression. The 2021 spent 17 months in wood, three months in neutral oak during the malolactic fermentation and then 14 months (50% new) for the rest of its aging. Superb. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

98 Points! First made in 1971, this legendary Italian wine now celebrates its 50th birthday. Happy Birthday, Tignanello! The Marchesi Antinori 2021 Tignanello (made with 79% Sangiovese, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc) pulls on all the heartstrings. To be released in May, the wine shows a quintessentially pretty taste profile with tart fruit flavors, redcurrant, tea leaf, heritage rose, crushed white pepper, licorice, nutmeg, clove and chopped mint. It opens slowly to reveal more richness and exuberance with time, becoming downright voluptuous and heady a short while later. The through line, however, remains the bright freshness and minerality of Sangiovese. Compared to the 2018 vintage (which I also loved), this vintage has more overall fruit weight and volume. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

98 Points! The 2021 Barolo Villero soars from the glass with intensely spiced, balsamic-tinged aromatics. Deceptively medium in body, with superb persistence and class, the 2021 is simply magnificent. Beams of tannin shape the unforgettable, persistent finish. This is another wine that demands patience. The Villero is not an easy wine, rather it is a Barolo that offers a more inward, at times intellectual, expression of Nebbiolo. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

A blend of 90% Sangiovese with 10% Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, and Colorino, Piemaggio’s flagship Chianti Classico ferments spontaneously in stainless steel during a 3 ½ week maceration, and spends two years aging in a combination of concrete tanks and previously used wooden casks—mainly 25-hectoliter Slavonian oak, with some 500-liter French oak employed as well. Utterly textbook in character, it combines earth, bright fruit, and tangy acidity, with notable yet unforced concentration; it is a wine of balance and egoless drinkability.

93 Points! Pretty orange blossom with cranberry and crab apple aromas as well as watermelon. Medium body with fine and polished tannins that shows energy and length. Very fine-textured at the end. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A delicious, well-rounded and velvety Chianti Classico with aromas of strawberries, raspberries and mild spices. Medium-bodied with finely grained tannins and texture. Juicy and velvety with elegance and a pure character. Fresh and delicious finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! Le Creete vineyard is located at the southern end of Lake Garda and planted on the limestone and clay soils that make this region so interesting. As if basking in the sun, the wine opens with aromas of warmed pineapple, guava and lemon with heady white flowers wafting in and out. The palate lifts with tart notes of passion fruit and lemon peel, with a texture that has layers upon layers to explore. Crushed chalky notes define the lengthy and elegant finish. - Wine Enthusiast

90 Points! This has tropical fruit aromas like jackfruit, guava, pineapple and grapefruit. It’s juicy, ripe and fleshy with a medium body and a tasty finish. - 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

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