Acclaim

The 2018 Valpolicella Classico Superiore La Roverina impresses with a display of musky cherries and raspberries before opening further to reveal pretty violet florals. It’s soft and juicy, mixing tart red berries and minerals with vibrant acids, coming across as more savory than sweet. The wonderfully fresh finale showcases cooling herbal tones and a subtle hint of citrus. Very nice. Drinking window: 2021 – 2025 – Eric Guido

The 2017 Valpolicella Classico Superiore La Roverina shows a bit more of a warm vintage character, with intense dark red and black fruits given lift through mentholated herbal tones. It’s fleshy and enveloping, with depths of wild berry fruits and spices enlivened by brisk acidity. While a bit shorter than I’d expect, this tapers off clean and refreshing. Drinking window: 2021 – 2024 – Eric Guido

While the 2017 is all about power, the 2018 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso is deeply alluring yet lifted and spry. A beautifully perfumed mix of violets, roses, sage, white pepper and crushed blackberries forms in the glass. The textures are silky, yet this is wonderfully juicy in feel, with sour cherry and zesty citrus giving way to inner herbal tones. Nuanced tannins linger, framing the expression nicely, as residual acids keep the mouth watering for more. I seldom find myself using the word “delectable” to describe a Ripasso, but that’s exactly what this is. Drinking window: 2022 – 2030 – Eric Guido

The 2017 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso is spicy and savory in the glass, with a dark and inviting display of sage and mint giving way to crushed wild berries. It’s deeply textural yet also full of nervous tension, as salty minerals and blackberries are brought to life by zesty acids, forming a note of purple inner florals toward the close. Although finishing amazingly fresh, there’s a coating of subtle tannins and fruit concentrate that clings to the senses. Give the 2017 another year of cellaring to show its best. Drinking window: 2022 – 2028 – Eric Guido

The 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant’Urbano takes some time to blossom in the glass, as mineral-tinged blackberry evolves into a display of currants and cherries complemented by hints of sweet mint, lavender and violets. It’s velvety in texture and savory to the core, coasting dark red and black fruits across a medium-bodied frame, contrasted by vibrant acids, as grippy tannins form up toward the close. This finishes youthfully structured yet amazingly long, with echoes of licorice and purple inner florals. The 2016 is geared for the cellar, and in need of some time to soften, but my expectations are very high. Drinking window: 2025 – 2040 – Eric Guido

The 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant’Urbano is flat-out stunning. It opens slowly with a beguiling display of sour cherries offset by sweet mint, lavender, hints of licorice, pine shavings and powdered sugar. It’s rich and deeply textural yet also full of energy, with masses of tart berries, exotic spices and dark chocolate saturating the senses, maintaining energy through vibrant acids that also work to balance the mounting tannins. A coating of fruit extract and hints of bitter coffee linger on the long, structured finish. The 2015 is intense, requiring some time to settle down, but once it does, watch out. Drinking window: 2021 – 2035 – Eric Guido

The 2017 Recioto della Valpolicella Classico La Roggia seduces with a rich and heady bouquet, as sweet white smoke gives way to cherry liquor, exotic spices, candied ginger and a soothing note of vanilla. It’s silky in texture yet much more lifted than expected, showing remarkable energy for a Recioto, but also decidedly sweet and monolithic. This finishes long, resonating on concentrated notes of blackberry, citrus peel and hints of bitter bakers’ chocolate. The 2017 La Roggia is front-loaded and all about unapologetic pleasure. Drinking window: 2021 – 2030 – Eric Guido

Sour cherries, crushed raspberries, orange peel and walnut oil. Smoke and ash, too. It’s medium-bodied with sleek yet chewy tannins and bright acidity. Drink or hold.” -James Suckling, Mar. 2021

The 2015 Vino da Uve Stramature Latinia opens with a kaleidoscopic display of candied lemon peel, grilled orange, pineapple, kiwi, coconut, golden raisins and hints of yellow curry. It’s deeply textural and creamy in feel yet somehow lifted, mixing salty and sweet through notes of dried nectarine, peach, baked apple and roasted almond. This finishes impossibly fresh considering the depth and density on the palate, seeming to recall all of the floral and tropical tones found within, and finally tapering off to a note of spiced ginger cookies. Fans of dessert wines take note: this is truly worth seeking out. The Latinia is produced using late-harvest Nasco grapes, a variety indigenous to Sardinia.  – Eric Guido, Vinous, Mar. 2021

The 2017 Cannonau di Sardegna Noras shows a rich display of crushed blackberries, plum, smoke and brown sugar lifted by minty herbal tones. This is velvety in texture, with a polished feel to its sapid red and black fruits, and a bitter twang of coffee and balsamic spices toward the close. A hint of tobacco and licorice lingers through the long, lightly structured finale. The Noras takes a little time to fully come together in the glass, but it is well worth the wait. – Eric Guido, Vinous, Mar. 2021