Weine, Parker:

91+/100 Punkte Robert Parker June 2018
The 2017 Dolcetto d'Alba is even more Dolcetto-like in this hot vintage. This Piedmont variety loves a hot, dry summer, and that's exactly what it got during this scorching growing season. The bouquet bursts open to raw plum and succulent flavors that include dried blackberry and candied cherry. This wine is particularly opulent, rich and exuberant. It's almost too much of a good thing, in a positive way. Luciano Sandrone tells me this was the first vintage in his long winemaking career in which he harvested his Dolcetto before the end of August.

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker June 2019
The 2016 El Espinal is a Maturana Tinta produced in a joint venture with Miguel Ángel Mato, who owns the vineyard in San Vicente de a Sonsierra and works with his horse for others like the Eguren family and Benjamín Romeo. This is the first vintage of this unusual wine made from vines regrafted from Garnacha to Maturana Tinta. I also tasted the 2017 next to this 2016 from a higher-yielding year; the wine had a shorter élevage (12 months in barrel), as the wine is a bit lighter. They didn't really want the green pepper the variety can easily deliver and waited a bit longer to pick the grapes and get aromas of white pepper, bay leaf and licorice, and this has less herbal notes than the 2017. It mixes some dark cherries with those varietal notes. This is drinking nicely today and might not be as long lived as the 2017.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker June 2019
One of two new single-vineyard reds, the 2017 El Espinal comes from a plot in San Vicente de la Sonsierra at 650 meters in altitude, on sandy soils with clay and limestone surrounded by pine trees. The particularity here is that Maturana Tinta (a.k.a. Castests, a relative of Carmenere) was regrafted on Garnacha some 25 years ago, and this is a varietal Maturana, which is quite rare. It fermented in 225-liter barrels and matured in 600-liter barrels for 15 months. There is more concentration and more of everything, including the peppery and herbal aromas, and a pungent note of freshly cracked back peppercorn on the palate. It's a more powerful and long-lived year, and it's impossible to guess as Rioja because the profile is completely Atlantic and would fool almost everybody in a blind tasting. So, it's not for you if you hate the herbal character of the Bordeaux wines. 1,200 bottles were filled in March 2019.

94/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
The 2014 El Terroir has a little more depth and complexity than the previous year, even if both vintages were cold and rainy, but this 2014 seems to have more complexity, depth and nuance. It's medium bodied with fine-grained tannins and has very good balance. This cuvée seems to be improving vintage after vintage, they keep working their same vineyards, they keep improving their knowledge, and they are more experienced. The barrels are older and the integration is better. This is earthier and a little wilder than La Dama.

95/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
It felt like the 2015 El Terroir was more austere than the 2014, even if the year was more generous, especially on the palate, where the wine shows strong minerality. It's more telluric than 2014, a slightly darker shade of blue, and it opens up with time in the glass. This wine has achieved a very good level, with a rare combination of power and elegance, especially in this 2015. 26,315 bottles were filled in May 2017.

95/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker December 2018
It felt like the 2015 El Terroir was more austere than the 2014, even if the year was more generous, especially on the palate, where the wine shows strong minerality. It's more telluric than 2014, a slightly darker shade of blue, and it opens up with time in the glass. This wine has achieved a very good level, with a rare combination of power and elegance, especially in this 2015. 26,315 bottles were filled in May 2017.

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2019
Even if they are not quite from the Duero zone but from Bierzo, I also tasted their whites produced with Godello grapes, including the 2018 El Zarzal, which has 13% alcohol, very good acidity and low pH. It was produced with fruit from vines averaging 15 years of age, and it fermented in oak at controlled temperature. It matured in French 2 ,500-liter oak foudres with lees for eight months. It's expressive and aromatic, with some grape-pulp aromas, somehow floral and with a spicy touch. It's varietal and clean, with integrated oak, a medium-bodied palate and a refreshing finish, serious and with a mineral twist.

93/100 Guía Peñín 2017

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2016
The eponymous 2014 Exopto has an unusual blend, as it's mostly Graciano with 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha. Sometimes Graciano does not ripen properly in cool vintages, so this cuvée was not produced in 2013. In 2014 they did a green harvest and lowered the yields to ensure proper ripening, even in a late and cooler vintage. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with malolactic in barrel the following spring. The upbringing was in 50% new French oak barrels and lasted 18 months, the first six of which with the fine lees, which were not stirred. They managed a good ripening, harvesting quite late into early October. This wine mixes grapes from the warmer and cooler zones of Rioja, so it mixes the characters with focus in the Graciano. It is balsamic and aromatic, with aromas of peppercorns and a core of black fruit. The palate is serious, with depth and silkiness, as well as polished tannins; it is ready for a long life ahead. It could be d

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The eponymous red 2015 Exopto is an atypical blend of 70% Graciano from the south, a grape that can keep very good acidity and ripens nicely in warmer vintages (like 2015) and 30% Tempranillo from old vines. In previous vintages, the wine had less Graciano and some 10% Garnacha, but they didn't like what the Garnacha did to the blend in 2015, so they left it out for the first time ever. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts, daily pigéage and malolactic in barrel in the spring. The wine matured in 225- and 500-liter oak casks, and they have reduced the new oak to some 30%. Even though they have reduced the new oak and gone for larger volumes, it's still a little marked by the oak and might need some more time in bottle to finish integrating, because there is very nice stuffing here. It has very healthy acidity that should help it develop nicely in bottle. This is elegant and open, less stressed by tannins, within the power

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The eponymous red 2015 Exopto is an atypical blend of 70% Graciano from the south, a grape that can keep very good acidity and ripens nicely in warmer vintages (like 2015) and 30% Tempranillo from old vines. In previous vintages, the wine had less Graciano and some 10% Garnacha, but they didn't like what the Garnacha did to the blend in 2015, so they left it out for the first time ever. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts, daily pigéage and malolactic in barrel in the spring. The wine matured in 225- and 500-liter oak casks, and they have reduced the new oak to some 30%. Even though they have reduced the new oak and gone for larger volumes, it's still a little marked by the oak and might need some more time in bottle to finish integrating, because there is very nice stuffing here. It has very healthy acidity that should help it develop nicely in bottle. This is elegant and open, less stressed by tannins, within the power

91/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2019
The pretty 2017 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Floramundi is a blend of Nero d'Avola and Frappato that shows a tight, luminous and snappy personality. This is a red wine to drink with snapper or shellfish. It opens to a medium ruby color and lean consistency with wild berry aromas, blueberry, wild rose and a playful touch of bitter almond.

92/100 Punkte Vinous August 2019
Bright deep red. Perfumed aromas of violet, cinnamon and red berries. Then rich, dense and suave but with lively acidity lifting the inner-mouth perfume of the red berry and red cherry flavor. Finishes long and floral. Lovely Cerasuolo di Vittoria with sneaky concentration and real refinement.

92/100 Punkte James Suckling, April 2019
Vivid fruit here with crushed strawberries, cherries and lemons, following through to a medium body, firm but light tannins and a crisp finish. Drink now.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2019
Here is a new and exciting wine from the folks at Donnafugata. The 2016 Etna Rosso Contrada Montelaguardia Fragore is a compact and mid-weight expression that opens to a pretty garnet color with dark ruby hues. The bouquet is redolent of wild berry and cassis, but you also get hints of wild rose, smoke, tar and volcanic smoke. As a first vintage of this wine from Etna, the folks at Donnafugata have hit the nail on the head. This is a great wine for a blackened tuna steak on the grill.

94/100 Punkte Vinous Aug 2019
Luminous deep red. Knockout nose offers tangy red fruits, minerals and porcini complicated by Oriental spices and broom. Conveys an impression of superb concentration but also of nonpareil refinement, boasting the uncanny combination of tactile presence and deep luscious pristine red fruit, aromatic herb and stony flavors. A wine of great length and potential with a penetrating steely quality and with lots of fruit lurking in the background. This is the first vintage of Donnafugata#s new top of the line Etna Rosso and it#s a beauty. It undoubtedly helps that the grapes come from the Montelaguardia contrada, one of the lesser known but terroir-wise, one of the of the very best Etna contradas of all.

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2013
The non-vintage Franciacorta Brut is a very ripe expression with loads of yellow fruit and apricot that add immediate lift and intensity. The mouthfeel is broad and thick with loads of deep texture and creamy intensity on the finish. This elegant Franciacorta Brut (80-20 Chardonnay and Pinot Nero) delivers a soft and expansive interpretation of this premium Italian sparkling wine territory.

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2013
The non-vintage Franciacorta Brut is a very ripe expression with loads of yellow fruit and apricot that add immediate lift and intensity. The mouthfeel is broad and thick with loads of deep texture and creamy intensity on the finish. This elegant Franciacorta Brut (80-20 Chardonnay and Pinot Nero) delivers a soft and expansive interpretation of this premium Italian sparkling wine territory.

91/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2013
The non-vintage Franciacorta Radijan Brut Rose is a mature and creamy rose sparkler that exhibits an amber-pink color and pretty orange highlights. The wine carries its aromatic weight with grace: ripe peach, melon and baked bread are framed by chalk and finely chiseled lines. A spot of exotic spice or nutmeg colors the fresh, delicately foaming finale. This bottle was disgorged in April 2013. Drink: 2014-2018.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker October 2016
The 2004 Tinto Gloria Reynolds -Cathedral is an equal blend of Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet, aged in new French oak for 24 months. This is simply the old Gloria Reynolds Tinto with a new name, Cathedral only indicating a re-release program. Julian Cuellar Reynolds said: Gloria Cathedral 2004 is an old harvest, the lot of every Gloria that I keep in the cellar for a second release after 12 years. I was not sold on this originally, but it is very impressive now that it is mature-and that maturity is the key to success here. The tannins have moderated, the oak has been pulled in and, most importantly, there is a glorious medley of complex flavors typical of many maturing wines, some earth, forest floor, dried cassis and so on. The texture is gorgeous, too, silky and sensual. If the fruit seems fully mature, the structure still gives it energy. The tannins are controlled, but there is still grip and tension on the finish. Perhaps it was th

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2019
The 2009 Gloria Reynolds Art & Tradition Tinto is an equal blend of Alicante Bouschet and Trincadeira, aged for 24 months in new French oak. It comes in at 14% alcohol. Far more burly and muscular than the 2011 Grande Reserva this issue#even with two extra years of bottle age-this is the one where the winery goes for a statement and let's it all hang out. Yet, with the late release, this has come to a place where it is at least drinkable now, if still a bit tight. Long on the finish, with the beefy nuances of the Alicante dominating the wine, this also has surprising freshness, some acidity that lifts the fruit. In this big and very warm year, this seems impressive for its success in maintaining its balance. At the same time, it adds a layer of depth and power to the Grande Reserva. This seems positioned to age very well#the producer thinks well over 30 years-but let's start here and see where it goes in time.

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2009
The NV Brut Excellence is a terrific effort at this level. A fragrant, open bouquet leads to deep, layered core of fruit. The wine shows gorgeous complexity, nuance and a multi-dimensional personality that is simply compelling. The Brut Excellence is 45% Pinot Noir, 13% Pinot Meunier and 42% Chardonnay. The significant presence of red grapes gives the wine much of its breadth and richness on the palate. This is Lot L745-1422, disgorged 1st week of December, 2008. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2014.

17/20 Punkte Vinum Dezember 2016
Verführerische, sehr reintönige, rauchig-fruchtige Aromatik; saftig und knackig im Mund, wenig und fest und lang, die Art von Champagner, die man bei jeder Gelegenehit öffnen wird.

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
The balsamic and fruit-driven 2016 Gotes Blanques is an unoaked Garnacha Blanca from the village of La Morera de Montsant at 650 meters in altitude. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and was partly aged in cement vats. It's very fresh and delineated, with very good acidity and focused, pungent flavors and a mineral finish.

95/100 Punkte Falstaff November 2018
Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe, feines lebendiges Mousseux. Zarte Nuancen von weißer Birne, ein Hauch von Orangenzesten und Blütenhonig, zart nach Haselnuss, attraktives Bukett. Saftig, komplex, feine Fruchtsüße, unterlegt mit finessenreicher Säurestruktur, mineralisch, ein Hauch von gelber Tropenfrucht im Abgang, sehr gute Länge, sicheres weiteres Entwicklungspotenzial.

94+/100 Punkte Robert Parker Apr 2019
From a single parcel in Urville, the 2008 Brut Grande Sendrée is exceptional, opening in the glass with incipiently rich aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, brioche, marzipan and wheat toast that seems to be on the cusp of acquiring more nutty complexity. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and tight-knit, with superb concentration and structural tension, built around racy acids and concluding with an attractively chalky finish. In keeping with the vintage, this is quite a tensile, reserved Grande Sendrée, but its potential is considerable. Readers should plan on forgetting the 2008 for another four or five years if they wish to catch it at the beginning of its plenitude. It's a blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, one-third of which was fermented in barrel; it was disgorged after seven years sur lattes with five grams per liter dosage.

19/20 Punkte Vinum Special 2018

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Feb 2020
The 2017 Bianco del Ticino Granito blends Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris and Blanc and opens with a clear, intensely floral and refreshing bouquet of ripe fruit aromas intertwined with notes of crushed stones and some oak. Precise and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, dense, tight and seriously structured white with ripe fruit, tension-giving minerals and fine bitters on the finish. The oak influence is palatable but moderate, and the wine has good, refreshing length with some fine tannins and stimulating salinity. This is an excellent white to have with a big, fat fish or good risotto. It is still very young though. Tasted in October 2019.

17/20 Punkte Schweizerische Weinzeitung September 2019

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Feb 2020
The 2017 Bianco del Ticino Granito blends Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris and Blanc and opens with a clear, intensely floral and refreshing bouquet of ripe fruit aromas intertwined with notes of crushed stones and some oak. Precise and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, dense, tight and seriously structured white with ripe fruit, tension-giving minerals and fine bitters on the finish. The oak influence is palatable but moderate, and the wine has good, refreshing length with some fine tannins and stimulating salinity. This is an excellent white to have with a big, fat fish or good risotto. It is still very young though. Tasted in October 2019.

17/20 Punkte Schweizerische Weinzeitung September 2019

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Apr 2018
A few years after releasing the centenary Carignan wine, they decided to bottle a 2015 1903 Centenary Grenache, with a similar approach and philosophy. The grapes are sourced from their oldest family vineyards in the village of Poboleda, basically from two vineyards where they have both Garnacha and Cariñena; but they were picked, fermented and aged separately. The 2015 vintage is not an easy one, perhaps a little too dry and ripe for Garnacha but better for Cariñena; the wine shows high ripeness and is a bit jammy on the nose, with better balance in the palate, where it shows good balance and freshness. It's a bit of a heady Garnacha, an intoxicating wine, showy, open, expressive and impressive. The destemmed grapes fermented in stainless steel, and the wine matured in new and used 225- and 500-liter barrels to complete some 16 months of aging. 600 bottles were filled in May 2017. This will be released in 2018. I cannot wait to taste future v

92/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2019/20

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker, March 2020
Assembling the fruit from several vineyards that were picked in the first half of October, the 2018 Spitz Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Rotes Tor offers a clear, ripe and elegant nose of tropical fruits intermixed with elegant and flinty terroir notes. Ripe and piquant on the crystalline and salty palate, this is an elegant and already pretty complex Veltliner with an aromatic and refreshing, elegant finish with good grip. 12.5% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in September 2019.

91-93/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2015
Mittleres Gelbgrün. Verhalten, zart rauchig, ein Hauch von Steinobst, Kräuterwürze und rauchige Mineralität. Straff, dunkel schattiert, zarte weiße Apfelfrucht, feiner Säurebogen, mineralisch-salzig geprägt, noch völlig unterentwickelt, Orangen im Nachhall.

93/100 Punkte Parker Apr 2016
Beautifully clear, intense and elegant on the nose, the 2014 Grüner Veltliner Lamm 1ÖTW from the southeastern footslope of the Heiligenstein displays a lovely mix of herbs, domestic fruits and earthy flavors. Straight, fresh and mineral on the palate, this is a medium-weighted but very intense and firmly structured Veltliner with loads of salt and stones. Very dense, intense and long, this is an expressive wine and probably one of the finest Veltliners that have been produced along the Danube in 2014. For advanced wine lovers only.

93-95/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2013
Helles Grüngelb. Zart mit Orangenzesten unterlegter Golden-Delicious-Apfel, ein Hauch von Tabak und Kräutern. Saftig, feine Fruchtsüße, elegante Textur, straffer Körper, weiße Fruchtanklänge, betont mineralisch, bleibt gut haften, verfügt über sicheres Entwicklungspotenzial.

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2014
Hirsch's 2012 Gruner Veltliner Lamm is fascinatingly Chablis-like in its aromatics and savor, projecting salted, herbed chicken and mushroom stock mingled with salivary gland-milking oyster liquor. Full, expansive and palpably extract rich, this finishes with impressive grip if also with a bit of extraneous bitterness not anticipated from the nose or the initial palate impression. Expect this to pique appetites and attention at table through at least 2022, and quite possibly to reveal yet greater profundity.

93/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2017/18
Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Etwas zurückhaltend, feine gelbe Kernobstnuancen, tabakig, dunkle Mineralität, braucht etwas Luft im Glas. Stoffig, feine Fruchtsüße, dezenter Säurebogen, etwas Honigmelone, bleibt gut haften, ein harmonischer Stil, sicheres Reifepotenzial.

91-93/100 Robert Parker August 31, 2017
Tasted from the vat two weeks before bottling in late June 2017, the 2016 Kamptal Grüner Veltliner Renner 1ÖTW shows a pure, fresh and bright bouquet of white fruits along with some lemon flavors. The wine is intense and fresh in its mineral purity, very well structured and develops a fruity and stimulatingly salty finish. The acidity is remarkably fresh. The Renner comes from the bottom of the western part of the Kammerner Gaisberg where the vines root in calcareous silt soils and can age for 8 years or more.

94/100 Punkte Falstaff Weinguide 2017/18

92-93/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 31, 2017
From the very warm bottom of the southeastern part of the Heiligenstein, the 2016 Kamptal Grüner Veltliner Lamm 1ÖTW opens deep, rich and smoky/flinty on the intense and ripe yet fresh and precise nose with its lemon zest aromas. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich and mouth-filling Veltliner with stunning purity, piquancy and a coolish mineral grip in the well structured finish. Fine tannins help to keep the tension of this monolithic and age-worthy Veltliner that needs two or three years to gain finesse and relaxation. Tasted as a sample ready to be bottled in late June 2017.

94/100 Punkte James Suckling
Still very leesy and funky (from reduction) this is a long-term wine with a lot of mineral intensity at the very long finish. Needs two years for the funk to blow off and the fruit to emerge, but this is going to be a very exciting wine if you have the patience. Screw cap.