2015 Wine

Located at the top of Altesino's vineyards is the prestigious Montosoli vineyard where ancient limestone soils with the 360 degree exposure combine to yield a Brunello of exceptional style and elegance. This small vineyard... Read More

The 2015 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard offers up floral notes of jasmine and peach blossom over a core of apricot preserves, honeyed toast, beeswax and lemon butter, plus a waft of crushed stones. The palate is just beautiful, possessing... Read More

The 2015 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard preserves good freshness and aromatic lift, especially for the year. In this tasting, the Eastside presents more of a phenolic character than most of the Chardonnays, with the fruit pushed... Read More

It is a rare phenomenon that a wine can trace its origins to a single man. Brunello di Montalcino, however, owes its existence to Ferruccio Biondi Santi and its fame to his family. Now on the seventh generation of winemakers,... Read More

This vivid red shows good momentum, with solid tannins encasing cherry, cola, clove and balsamic notes, marked with cedar, anise and spice elements. The flavors are well-integrated, but this complex red has a long life ahead of... Read More

The 2015 La Tâche Grand Cru is a young classic, soaring from the glass with an exotic and stunningly complex bouquet of dark berries, plums, hoisin, smoked duck, dark chocolate, licorice and Chinese five spice, with just... Read More

Once again reduction largely dominates the nose though discreet floral nuances are perceptible. There is excellent size, weight and concentration to the overtly powerful big-bodied flavors that brim with dry extract that helps... Read More

Here too the nose is quite ripe yet remains fresh and inviting with its more elegant combination of spice and floral elements adding breadth to the red currant, plum, violet and underbrush scents where there is just enough wood... Read More

The Elvio Cogno 2015 Barolo Ravera Bricco Pernice delivers the depth, richness and concentration that are a hallmark of this pretty vintage. This wine is a pure expression of the productive Lampia clone of Nebbiolo. Generous layers... Read More

The 2015 Barolo Ravera shows a deep concentration and dark fruit intensity. This warm-vintage Barolo opens with a ripe and soft bouquet that brings out some nice cherry notes with creamy black fruit at the back. The finish is... Read More

The 2015 Barolo Riserva Ravera Vigna Elena (with 4,000 bottles made) is coming along beautifully with lots of dark fruit packed tight within and a well-developed savory side, with leather, tar and cured tobacco. Now, with the... Read More

Along the Tuscan seaboard extending south from Livorno lies the Maremma. For centuries a marshland, it has established itself over the last quarter century as one of Italy’s most prestigious wine regions. The area boasts... Read More

Monfortino was not produced in 2016 nor was it made in 2017. The jury is out on whether will see it in 2018 (but I do know that Roberto Conterno is super excited about the 2019 vintage in Barolo, speaking generally). That means... Read More

Etienne Grivot succeeded his father, Jean, in 1987, and today presides over 15 hectares of vines spread accross Nuits, Vosne, Vougeot and Echézeaux. This is one of the modern-day, benchmark Burgundian domaines. The estate’s... Read More

There is more purple and black fruit in the 2015 Barolo Aleste compared to past vintages from Luciano Sandrone and also fewer of those floral accents that characterize the Cannubi Boschis where this fruit comes from. All the same,... Read More

Luciano Sandrone is one of the leading producers in Barolo. Since their first harvest in 1978, Luciano and his brother Luca have devoted tremendous effort toward cultivating the finest fruit in their vineyards in the best parts... Read More

Massolino's top-shelf wine is the 2015 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda. This expression comes roaring out of the bottle with beautiful intensity and richness that is played forward with abundant black cherry, tarry spice, clay... Read More