Nicolas Belfrage: Deep color. Lots of morello cherry and tar on the nose. Rich and ripe, not “hot” but verging on soupy, with lowish acidity, stewy fruit, and muscular tannins on the finish. Fairly long, somewhat lacking in elegance. 84

Bruno Besa: Deep garnet to tawny. Open, clean nose, with prunes, cherries, violets, and mint. Balanced palate, with soft tannins and a fairly long, clean finish. Well made but a touch simplistic. 89

Andrew Jefford: Saturated dark black. Quite a lot of sweet oak here. Agreeable, but I’m finding it hard to locate the vineyard beneath. True on the flavors, too— but not true, too, since you suddenly (and this is Barolo!) find a vertical dimension, a wealth and power of flavor, a polyphenolic grandeur that the aromas had no means of expressing. I think there probably should be a little more linkage between the two, and this is thus not a wholly successful wine. But the raw materials are sensationally good, and with some refocusing of the handling this could be a magnificent wine. 89