Red Wine

The 2018 Phélan Ségur appears to have lost the green edge that I observed from barrel, now coming across fresh with blackberry, seaweed and light sea spray scents. It gently unfurls with aeration, though never slips into fifth gear. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, just a touch of dark chocolate infusing the black fruit and a cohesive, slightly peppery finish. This is a deftly crafted Phélan Ségur that will benefit from 3–4 years in bottle.

The 2016 Barolo Arborina is powerful and tightly wound, with explosive energy that is just waiting to fully emerge. Readers will find an especially rich, potent expression of this Arborina site. Black cherry, violet, lavender and spice add to a real sense of gravitas. The 2016 needs time in bottle to be at its best, but it has terrific freshness and persistence. The significant presence of clay in this portion of Arborina contributes to the wine's size. This is such a gorgeous wine.

The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is youthfully inward and darkly floral with an herbal tinge and hints of crushed ashen stone that give way to vivid black raspberry and exotic spice. This is juicy and spry, with racy cherry-berry fruit and stimulating acidity that creates a sensation of boundless energy, even as a saturation of primary concentration settles in toward the close. The 2019 finishes with incredible length and youthful tension, leaving balsamic spice, sage and licorice notes lingering over a bed of dusty tannins.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is coy in the glass, slowly evolving with vivid black cherries, mentholated herbs and hints of cooling mint. This is silky and sleek, quite feminine in character and shows tremendous depth. It holds its power in reserve as a coating of chalky red and blue-toned fruits slowly saturates. This finishes long and youthfully tense with dusty tannins and minerals that mingle through the finale. The potential here is high, yet patience will be required.

The 2016 Barolo Bricco Ambrogio is very pretty in 2016. Medium in body and supple, the Bricco Ambrogio captures all of the personality of the year in a mid-weight style that makes it easy to drink and enjoy young. The balance of fruit, acid and structure is just superb here. Pretty floral and spice overtones add nuance. Bricco Ambrogio is always the most accessible of the Scavino cru Barolos. The 2016 is the finest wine from this site yet.

The 2016 Barolo Vigneto Garretti is bold, racy and super-expressive. Succulent dark cherry, lavender, spice, menthol, red flowers, licorice, and French oak all meld together in this creamy, racy wine from La Spinetta. The Garretti captures all of the richness and pedigree of the year in a forward, succulent style that is sure to find many admirers. This is an especially strong vintage for this wine, though it needs another year in bottle for the big tannins to soften. I won't be surprised if the 2016 turns out to be even better than this note suggests; today it is absolutely delicious.

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Pora is a brooding wine, its mid-weight structure notwithstanding. Iron, smoke, tobacco, cedar and dried flowers add a feral, earthy quality that is so appealing. Pora is often one of the more approachable Riservas in this range, but the 2016 is an exception. Readers should be prepared to cellar it for at least a few years.

The 2016 Barolo Bricco Ambrogio is very pretty in 2016. Medium in body and supple, the Bricco Ambrogio captures all of the personality of the year in a mid-weight style that makes it easy to drink and enjoy young. The balance of fruit, acid and structure is just superb here. Pretty floral and spice overtones add nuance. Bricco Ambrogio is always the most accessible of the Scavino cru Barolos. The 2016 is the finest wine from this site yet.

Vivid ruby. Expansive red and blue fruit preserve, tobacco, potpourri, spice and botanical herb aromas, with vanilla and smoky mineral notes emerging as the wine opens up. Sappy, penetrating and gently chewy on the palate, offering vibrant, mineral- and spice-accented black raspberry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors that deepen and turn sweeter on the back half. Shows sharp focus and floral lift on the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind notes of candied blue fruits and spicecake.

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota continues this tasting of frankly awe-inspiring wines. Rich, deep and super-expressive, the 2016 hits all the right notes. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, licorice emerge, but only with great reluctance. The Muncagota is another wine in this range that clearly needs time.

Prunotto’s 2016 Barolo Bussia is an attractive wine. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, mint, pine and cinnamon lend aromatic brilliance to an understated, classy Barolo that speaks to finesse more than anything else. This is an especially airy style, but there is plenty of resonance to the 2016. The Bussia is very pretty in 2016. Drink it over the next 15-20 years.

The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo is a serious, somber wine. Black cherry, plum, lavender, spice and menthol show off the darker side of Nebbiolo to great effect. In most vintages, Rio Sordo is an easygoing wine, but not in 2016. Readers will find a potent, brooding yet mid-weight Barbaresco that screams with character. What a way to start this tasting!

The 2020 Pinot Noir La Colline du Château is from two blocks on the lower part of the Schlossberg Grand Cru, on granite, from 50-60-year-old vines. This was made with 50% whole bunches and spent two years in just 20% of new oak. A reasonably deep color points to some sumptuousness. The nose holds red and black berries and some notions of mocha. The palate is fresher yet brimming with ripe red, juicy cherry; this is very 2020. The tannins are ripe, velvety and smooth, but they also provide some structure and freshness to counter some alcoholic power. The finish is bone-dry and has a beautiful, streamlined focus. (Bone-dry)

The 2016 Barolo Pajana is ample, powerful and resonant, with terrific body and a real sense of expansiveness that builds with time in the glass. Sweet spice, citrus and floral overtones add brightness to this attractive, mid-weight Barolo. The 2016 is deep and yet also tannic. I would prefer to cellar it for at least a few years.

The 2016 Barolo Cerequio is a big, powerful wine. Chiarlo has chosen to bring out a bit more power and density than Cerequio seems naturally predisposed to, but it all works well. Black cherry, spice, leather, licorice and menthol all flesh out with some coaxing. The new oak tannins are pushed to the maximum, but it all works.

The 2016 Barolo Mosconi is a gorgeous wine made all the more remarkable given that Mosconi can't really be said to be a top-level site. Dark and imposing, the 2016 captures all the breadth and tannic clout that are such signatures of this site. This is an especially brooding, virile Barolo, but Chiara and Giorgio Boschis clearly brought out all the best the vineyard had to give.