Weine, Parker:

97/100 Punkte Falstaff April 2019
Sattes, tiefdunkles Rubin mit Violett. Sehr konzentrierte Nase, satt nach Waldheidelbeeren und dunklen Zwetschken, dazu etwas Pfeffer, Gewürznelkenund Tabak. Am Gaumen stoffig und fest, viel dichtmaschiges Tannin das sich in Schichten öffnet, sehr langer Nachhall.

95+/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2019
Donnafugata's showcase wine is the always delightful Mille e Una Notte, with 40,000 bottles released in this vintage. The 2015 Sicilia Mille e Una Notte is a beautifully saturated and dark wine, with an elegant full-bodied style and plenty of black fruit and plum that shines bright. The quality of those primary aromas is radiant and fresh. The wine shows its complexity in a second wave of spice, leather and black olive. The blend is mostly Nero d'Avola with Petit Verdot, Syrah and other grapes, and the wine rests in oak barrel for 14 months. This vintage is particularly rich, soft and exuberant.

94/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2020

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker, August 2018
The 2016 Malleolus is a generous old-vine Tempranillo fermented with yeasts they have selected and aged in French oak barrels for 18 months, showcasing the ripe and deftly oaked style of the house. There is more freshness and better balance here compared with 2015; it's juicy, a little chewy and with fine-grained, abundant tannins. There is contained ripeness and moderate acidity. As with many of the wines here, I felt it could do with a little more acidity.

97/100 Punkte Falstaff April 2019
Sattes, tiefdunkles Rubin mit Violett. Sehr konzentrierte Nase, satt nach Waldheidelbeeren und dunklen Zwetschken, dazu etwas Pfeffer, Gewürznelkenund Tabak. Am Gaumen stoffig und fest, viel dichtmaschiges Tannin das sich in Schichten öffnet, sehr langer Nachhall.

95+/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2019
Donnafugata's showcase wine is the always delightful Mille e Una Notte, with 40,000 bottles released in this vintage. The 2015 Sicilia Mille e Una Notte is a beautifully saturated and dark wine, with an elegant full-bodied style and plenty of black fruit and plum that shines bright. The quality of those primary aromas is radiant and fresh. The wine shows its complexity in a second wave of spice, leather and black olive. The blend is mostly Nero d'Avola with Petit Verdot, Syrah and other grapes, and the wine rests in oak barrel for 14 months. This vintage is particularly rich, soft and exuberant.

3 Gläser Gambero Rosso 2019

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
The 2014 Mille e Una Notte is mostly Nero d'Avola with some other red grapes in a supporting role. This was a terrific vintage in Sicily that did not see the below average temperatures and heavy rainfall that plagued the rest of mainland Italy. Instead, the growing season was characterized by balanced temperatures and steady sunshine. The fruit has matured beautifully here, showing blackberry, ripe cherry and plum. Tangy leather and spice add complexity to the wine. This is a full-bodied red with beautiful textual richness.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
The 2014 Tancredi is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Nero d'Avola. The wine is creamy and dense with excellent concentration and a smooth style that leaves an especially warm feeling in the mouth. Tancredi is one of those go-to wines when you want something good, but you don't want to think too hard. It offers happy, quality drinking. This is my favorite vintage of Tancredi to date.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2019
The 2017 Malleolus is also pure Tempranillo, in this case from small parcels (in Spanish "majuelo" and in Latin "malleolus") of vines aged between 25 and 75 years of age. Yields were reduced by 50% in 2017, so it's a very unusual vintage. It matured in French oak barrels for 18 months. As I found with the rest of 2017s, this is very expressive, aromatic and fresh, floral, aromatic, happy and expressive, without excess ripening and with fruit in the foreground and the oak neatly folded into the fruit. It's juicy, medium to full-bodied, perhaps not as concentrated as others, but balanced, with fine-grained tannins; it's very pleasant and representative of the grape and zone. Very good for the conditions of the year.

93/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Certainly riper and with a little less acidity, the 2015 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a similar blend of 55% extremely old Cariñena and 45% very old Garnacha matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. The fruit is black, and the palate reveals abundant, fine-grained tannins and integrated acidity. A powerful vintage for Doix.

95/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

95/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2020

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2019
The single-vineyard Tempranillo 2015 Malleolus de Sancho Martín fermented with their own strain of yeasts and matured in French oak barrels where it underwent malolactic and 18 months élevage. This is always more expressive than the Valderramiro; it's oaky but there is a different style of oaking, or the wine takes the oak differently. It's more aromatic and nuanced, with hints of graphite and tar and flowers, with more complexity and a gentler mouthfeel. There are plenty of grainy tannins, concentration and power, and it should develop nicely in bottle. It follows the style of the ripe and powerful 2015, a year that delivered tannic wines.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2019
Donnafugata's Tancredi is one of Sicily's most popular red wines, and it's easy to see why. The 2016 Tancredi is rich and soft at the same time, with a very pleasing texture that caresses the palate with dark fruit, spice and plum. The wine is mostly a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d'Avola, although some Tannat and other grapes are thrown in. It ages in oak for 14 months. This is a complete effort that boasts thick layering and volume.

94/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2020

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker, August 2018
The 2016 Malleolus is a generous old-vine Tempranillo fermented with yeasts they have selected and aged in French oak barrels for 18 months, showcasing the ripe and deftly oaked style of the house. There is more freshness and better balance here compared with 2015; it's juicy, a little chewy and with fine-grained, abundant tannins. There is contained ripeness and moderate acidity. As with many of the wines here, I felt it could do with a little more acidity.

96/100 Punkte Robert Parker September 2019
This blend of 70% Merlot, 25% Sangiovese and a smaller percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon has one of the most impressive track records of a modern Tuscan blend that I can think of. The 2016 Il Blu is a beautifully balanced and precise blend that pits the freshness and authenticity of Sangiovese against the softness and fruitiness of the Merlot. Although the Sangiovese plays a supporting role in the blend, its influence and signature go far to creating the overall identity of this special wine. It's a very nice effort to celebrate with a grilled T-bone.

95/100 Punkte Vinous August 2019
Brancaia's Il Blu is gorgeous in 2016. Fresh, perfumed and beautifully lifted, the 2016 strikes a captivating balance between power and finesse. Red cherry, flowers, mint, cinnamon and blood orange all give the 2016 brightness and vitality, and yet there is plenty of the richness readers have come to expect from this wine as well. The 2016 is one of the more polished, nuanced vintages of Brancaia I can remember tasting.

96/100 Punkte James Suckling
This is a beautiful Brancaia feathering a fine line of decadent dark fruit and complex herbal and spicy notes. Blackberries, dark cherries, Thai basil, peppermint tea, bark, cassis and pure blackcurrants all come to mind. A full body, characterized by layered but racy rich fruit, yet there#s an unmistakable current of acidity that doesn#t let go. Very classy and elegant with remarkable finesse and freshness. Drink from 2025.

95/100 Punkte Falstaff April 2018
Sattes Rubin mit violetten Schimmer. Eröffnet mit betont würzigen Noten, nach schwarzem Pfeffer und Lorbeerblättern, wild und ungestüm, nach Holunderbeeren und Cassis, Tabak. Am Gaumen erstaunlich vielschichtig, zeigt pralle, dichte Frucht, knackig und intensiv, entfaltet sich mit dichtem, feinmaschigem Tannin, im Finale viele Holunderbeeren.

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Oct 2017
The 2014 Il Caberlot is a beautifully executed wine with an inky dark or otherwise impenetrable appearance. The bouquet shows decisive Cabernet-adjacent aromas of super dense blackberry with black olive and charred rosemary twig. The wine delivers immediate power and intensity with excellent focus and sharpness. Perhaps the mouthfeel is a touch thinner and shorter in this vintage (as is to be expected), but given its overall opulence, this is a welcome characteristic. This wine is usually only available in magnums.

96/100 Punkte Vinous Jan 2018
Podere Il Carnasciale's 2014 Il Caberlot is all class. Sophisticated and medium in body in this vintage, it possesses striking aromatic depth and nuance to match its decidedly midweight personality. Layers of bright, red-toned fruit, blood orange and cinnamon add to the wine's decidedly exotic personality. In some vintages, Caberlot is more overt and exuberant, but the 2014 is a cool, reserved wine that needs time in bottle for its inner sweetness to fully emerge. Even at this early stage, though, it is striking.

96/100 Punkte Falstaff, August 2018
Funkelndes Rubin mit Granatschimmer. Feine und duftige Nase mit Noten nach reifen, dunklen Kirschen und Zwetschken, im Hintergrund nach Gewürznelken und Zimt. Feinmaschiges, geschliffenes Tannin am Gaumen, breitet sich sehr klar und geradlinig aus, saftig, langer Nachhall, nach Preiselbeeren.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker, June 2018
This is the second year Aleste is produced instead of Cannubi Boschis, however the grapes are exactly the same. The 2014 Barolo Aleste is named after Luciano Sandrone's grandchildren Alessia and Stefano. The 2014 is still wound up and will require extra time to find its footing. The Sandrone family lost 25% of their fruit production in this challenging harvest. The wine offers fragrant notes of wild cherry and cassis with smoke, crushed stone and candied orange peel. The tannins are firm and textured. It is the palate (more than the nose) that requires more time to soften.

94/100 Punkte Wine Spectator, Mar 31, 2019
The cherry and strawberry aromas are tinged by hay and tobacco notes. On the palate, the core of fruit is joined by a chorus of herb, tobacco and underbrush flavors. Aggressively tannic now, but well-proportioned and long. Best from 2024 through 2043.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
This wine is drinking beautifully right now. The 2012 Mille e Una Notte is a lot of fun to drink. You are treated to balanced aromas of black fruit and plum that are contrasted against spice, licorice and smoke. Nero d'Avola tends to show aromas of black olive, caper and aniseed in its natural state. You get some of those aromas here, but the black fruit is ultimately what shows strongest. This full-bodied red is endowed with rich texture and solid structure. It should continue to evolve over the next 10 years.

97/100 Punkte Falstaff Dezember 2016
Glänzendes, sattes Rubin mit feinem ­Granatschimmer. Einprägsame und dichte Nase, zeigt Noten nach Zwetschken, Granatapfel, Himbeere, dazu etwas Leder und ­Trüffel. Rund und geschmeidig in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt sich sehr ausgewogen, ­zunächst feine Frucht, öffnet sich dann mit festem Tannin, im Finale salzig, sehr langer Nachhall.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker, May 2016
The 2012 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is a solid and tighter wine compared to the 2012 Le Vigne. Having said that, it veers close to being too austere and hard-bodied, especially at this young stage of its life. Of Sandrone's two new Barolo releases, this wine definitely needs more time to evolve and soften with extra years of bottle aging. The tannins are more evident and the wine's firm backbone acts to support dark fruit flavors with distant accents of spice, licorice and tobacco. The 2012 Luciano Sandrone wines are very good, but remain far from the amazing heights achieved by this historic winery in the best years. Like many of the wines from this vintage (across the various townships that make up the appellation), they are slightly less expressive and they speak at a lower volume.

94/100 Punkte Vinous, Mar 2016
The 2012 Barolo Cannubi Boschis opens with beguiling aromatics redolent of crushed rose petal, spices, mint and new leather. Wonderfully layered and nuanced, especially for the year, the 2012 offers good freshness to match its inviting, supple fruit. I would prefer to drink it sooner rather than later, while its alluring, open-knit personality is on full display. In 2012, the fruit tends towards the redder end of spectrum, unusual for Cannubi Boschis, which usually tends towards darker shades of expression. The 2012 is perfumed, lithe and super-classy from start to finish.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker June 2018
Luciano Sandrone and his daughter Barbara tell me that the 2014 harvest needs explaining. Many are quick to dismiss it given the difficulties of the growing season that saw abundant rain, hail and bombe d'acqua, or "water bombs," which are a dangerous phenomenon with intense rainfall in a very small radius. But hard work does pay off. The Sandrone family employed 38 people for farming, when the average harvest requires only 22 pairs of vineyard hands. Great care was required to keep the leaves and the clusters healthy. The 2014 Barolo le Vigne is bright and fruit-forward. It is perhaps more accessible in the near term compared to past editions. It delivers dark fruit nuances over a mid-weight and compact mouthfeel.

96/100 Punkte Vinous, February 2018
The 2014 Barolo Le Vigne once again shows the wisdom of blending fruit from different sites. If there is a vintage where blending has the potential to be the difference-maker, 2014 is it. So it is hardly surprising to find the 2014 Le Vigne in such great shape. The red cherry jam, mint, cedar and floral notes are all finely sketched. Medium in body and classy, the 2014 is beautifully textured and inviting from start to finish. All the elements are simply in the right place. Vineyard sources are Merli, Vignane, Villero and Baudana.

95/100 Punkte James Suckling, September 2018
Beautiful aromas of licorice, tar and black cherries following through to a full body. A powerful palate with dense fruit. Chewy and intense. Needs two or three years to soften. A triumph for the vintage. Drink in 2020.

93/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Certainly riper and with a little less acidity, the 2015 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a similar blend of 55% extremely old Cariñena and 45% very old Garnacha matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. The fruit is black, and the palate reveals abundant, fine-grained tannins and integrated acidity. A powerful vintage for Doix.

97/100 Punkte Falstaff Dezember 2016
Funkelndes, intensives Rubin mit Granatrand. Klare und intensive Nase, nach reifen Kirschen, feine Brombeere, etwas Orangenkompott. Samtig und rund in Ansatz und Verlauf, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf, viel feinmaschiges Tannin, sehr geschliffen, langer Nachhall, ein Hochgenuss!

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker, May 2016
The Luciano Sandrone 2012 Barolo le Vigne shows the trademark ripeness that I so often identify in this historic product. The bouquet is round and plush with thick layers of dark cherry marmalade, blackberry preserves and dark currant. Beyond those apparent fruit aromas, Le Vigne offers dark spice and licorice with a beautiful menthol signature on the finish. The wine's natural structure is padded by soft tannins and lush fruit consistency. In all, this important wine is less vibrant and distinctive compared to other excellent vintages such as 2008 and 2010. The 2012 Luciano Sandrone wines are very good, but remain far from the amazing heights achieved by this historic winery in the best years. Like many of the wines from this vintage (across the various townships that make up the appellation), they are slightly less expressive and they speak at a lower volume.

94+/100 Punkte Vinous, Mar 2016
Sandrone's 2012 Barolo Le Vigne is fresh, delineated and totally inviting. Freshly cut flowers, sweet red berries, mint, orange peel, chalk and white pepper make a strong first impression. Precise and finely sculpted throughout, Le Vigne has a bit more energy and aromatic presence than the Cannubi Boschis, and a touch better balance.

95/100 Wine Spectator Feb 2017
A hint of oak lends this a spicy component, along with cherry, licorice and tar flavors. Racy and bright, with fine intensity and a long, tightly wound finish that seems to go on forever. This shows beautiful purity and class. Best from 2020 through 2036. 380 cases imported.

98/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2019/20
Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Attraktive Steinobstnuancen, feine Tropenfrucht, zart nach Mandarinenzesten, rauchig-mineralisch, einladendes Bukett. Saftig, stoffig, elegant, feine Fruchtsüße, integrierter Säurebogen, zarter Blütenhonig im Nachhall, sehr gut anhaftend, sicheres Reifepotenzial für viele Jahre.

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker, March 2020
Picked between October 5 and 31, the 2018 Ried Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd is clear, deep, pure, precise and flinty on the concentrated and piquant apricot nose with aromas of broken gneiss. Lush and round on the palate, this is a very elegant and balanced Singerriedel with immensely fine and juicy fruit, very fine tannins and great finesse. The acidity is ripe and refined and perfectly integrated and delivers persistent and stimulating salinity. A gorgeous Riesling and perhaps the finest 2018 I tasted in Austria last year. Tasted at the domain in September 2019.

18.5/20 Punkte Vinum November 2019

98/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2017/18
Leuchtendes Gelbgrün. Rauchig-kräuterwürzig unterlegte feine gelbe Tropenfrucht, mineralischer Touch, zarter Blütenhonig, facettenreiches Bukett. Komplex, weiße Fruchtsüße, sehr gute Tiefe und Frische, ein vollkommen harmonischer Wein mit überzeugender Länge, dem nur mehr eines fehlt, die perfekte Trinkreife. Ein Meilenstein in der österreichischen Sauvignon-Blanc-Entwicklung.

96-98/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2017
The golden-yellow colored, still cloudy sample of the 2015 Zieregg Sauvignon Blanc is the "picture book Tement wine" for Armin Tement. It contains all of the single plots (and more of course) and opens with a deep, intense and perfectly ripe but also flinty bouquet that indicates great depth and chalky minerality along with purity, complexity and herbal flavors. Full-bodied, silky and generous, this is a mind-blowing Austrian wine that is rich but finessed, highly complex and elegant, powerful and persistent but also fresh, vital and enormously mineral, with endless salinity. This 2015 is beautifully balanced but, nevertheless, full of tension and length. What a great and complex, pure and finessed Grand Cru from Sauvignon Blanc. And what a finish! This is a legend in the making. Tasted as a sample in May 2017.

98/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2019/20
Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Feine Nuancen von Blütenhonig, gelbe Tropenfrucht, kandierte Mandarinenzesten, facettenreich und einladend. Komplex, feine Fruchtsüße, eingebundener Säurebogen, cremig, saftig und anhaftend, feine Ananasfrucht im Abgang, vielversprechendes Potenzial.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker, March 2020
The 2018 Ried Kellerberg Riesling Smaragd opens with an intensely fruity but coolish, piquant and spicy bouquet of crushed stones, potted ginger and other veggies. Very clear and precise. Lush and intense on the palate, with a remarkably vivacious acidity, this is a dense and concentrated, quite rich and fleshy but refined and very elegant as well as refreshing Kellerberg with good phenolic grip on the finish. Tasted at the domain in September 2019.

96/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2015/16
Helles Gelbgrün. Feine weiße Frucht, zart nach Cassis, Stachelbeerkonfit und einem Hauch von Bienenwachs, zarte Kräuterwürze unterlegt. Straff, feinwürzig, gute Komplexität, sehr präzise, weiße Frucht, vielschichtige Aromatik, anregende Frische, angenehme zitronige Nuancen, mineralischer Nachhall, große Länge, sicheres Zukunftspotenzial.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker Apr 2016
Bottled July 2015, the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc Zieregg is deep, very intense and ripe on the smoky and chalky flavored nose; it displays pure and precise fruit aromas of lemon chutney, white peaches and passion fruit. Powerful, intense and highly concentrated on the palate, this piquant and salty wine is still in a capsule but shows a great purity, elegance and complexity. The finish is very long and reveals a compact minerality, as well as an excellent tannin structure; it indicates a great aging potential. I tasted the wine twice in the past six months and would call it the quintessence of the Zieregg cru as Sauvignon Blanc.

98/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 31, 2018
As I reported last year, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is impressive. While it's less flamboyantly aromatic than the Cuvée Réservée, it's more powerful and concentrated. Full-bodied and rich, it's loaded with potent raspberry fruit and silky tannins and boasts a finish that won't stop. Hints of roasted meat, lavender and thyme add complexity to the waves of fruit, which wash gently across the palate, exhibiting a lovely soft touch.

99/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2019
As impressive as the Cuvée Réservée is, the 2016 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée da Capo brings an extra level of intensity. Turn that volume up to 11 or even 12. Waves of black cherries, plums and chocolate wash across the full-bodied, velvety palate, lingering nearly forever on the finish. As big and bold as it is, it remains breathtakingly elegant and fine. It should evolve gracefully through at least 2040.

94/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2016

94/100 Robert Parker Jun 2015
Pure Cariñena from a low-yielding vineyard planted in 1911, the 2012 Tros del Clos was full-cluster fermented in open barrels with indigenous yeasts for 30 days with manual punch-down. The wine was matured in used French oak barrels for one year and bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is a serious and powerful Cariñena, showing a restrained character with those telltale earthy notes of iron, blood and tree bark, black fruit and some graphite. The palate is extremely balanced, has earthy tannins and mineral notes with good acidity and freshness. It is serious and has the elegant rusticity of Cariñena that should develop further in bottle. 1,458 bottles produced.

97/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Mar 2016
Only made in the best years, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva PS is a phenomenal achievement. The wine was produced in 2006, 2007, 2010 and will also be released in 2012 and 2015. Fruit is sourced from across a five-hectare vineyard in the northern part of the appellation, but only 1,500 bottles are made using the very best fruit. This is an incredible wine that shows a promising evolution in the glass. The bouquet is fluid and graceful with a very precise and focused delivery. Dark fruit is contrasted against pressed rose, smoked spice and crushed graphite. The finish is silky and very long. Attractive tones of savory smoked meat appear at the very end.

97/100 Punkte James Suckling Oct 1, 2015
Incredibly perfumed and vibrant with dried berries, flowers and dried strawberries. Full body, a velvety texture and an intense and rich palate. So much richness and length. Better in 2018 but wonderful to taste now.

98/100 Punkte Falstaff, März 2018
Kraftvolles, leuchtendes Rubin mit Granatrand. Kompakte, dunkle Beerenfrucht in der Nase, nach Brombeere und Himbeere, im Hintergrund feine Ledernote. Am Gaumen sehr präsent, zeigt viel reife Frucht, viel Kirsche, etwas Himbeere, öffnet sich mit dichtem, feinmaschigem Tannin in vielen Schickten, im Finale fest und sehr lange anhaltend.

96/100 Punkte Robert Parker Februar 2018
The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva PS is absolutely impressive, but with only 4,500 bottles made, it may not prove easy to locate. This precious expression of Sangiovese exhibits a gorgeous level of intensity and power, coupled by elegance and poise. The long presentation of aromas starts with black fruit and cherry confit and continues to crushed stone, toasted spice, cola and medicinal herb. The wine's texture sticks firmly to the palate. This Brunello ages in French oak for two years.

95/100 Punkte Wine Spectator June 2018
A modern style, exuding coffee, vanilla, cherry and tobacco flavors. Vibrant, offering grip and picking up mineral accents as this winds down on the finish. An elegant, minerally red under the oak. Best from 2021 through 2035.

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2016
Carmelo Bonetta is a Sicilian renegade. His radiant personality doesn't just fill a room: It fills a stadium. It is always a pleasure to recognize that exuberance and good cheer in the wines of Baglio del Cristo di Campobello. The 2013 Sicilia Nero d'Avola Lu Patri is a dark and rich red wine with pretty concentration and loads of dark blackberry, cherry and plum. Those generous fruit tones are matched by oaky flavors of vanilla and exotic spice. There's a bit of red earth and dark mineral in there as well. The wine is soft and velvety in texture.