Bruno Besa | Deep ruby to garnet rim. Mature, black-cherry and prune nose, with smoke, tar, hazelnuts, and sweet tobacco. Full body, with massive tannins well-supported by the layered fruit. Long and generous finish. A wine that needs time to develop a bit more elegance. | 93

Andrew Jefford | A dark wine; translucent, but lots of red and purple. Warm and sweet-scented: the memory of strawberry tarts, rich pastry included. Some herbs, too. This is quite soft in style, with very soft tannins; the fruits are smooth and dark, earthy, with those herbs reappearing alongside oak bark and crushed acorn. On the palate, the aromatic sweetness is nowhere apparent, though it is not a “dry” wine either: round, full, shapely. Excellent work for the vintage, and a clear style contrast, for example, to [the Azelia di Luigi Scavino Barolo Bricco Fiasco Castiglione Falletto], since this does have flesh (though much less aromatic refinement and in a marginally less concentrated style). | 90

Michael Palij | The deep color and developed nose presage a wine focused on ripeness of fruit which, in this vintage, was never in question. Bramble, orange peel, parma violet, prune, fig, and vanilla all vie for pole position in this massive, textured red. The palate succumbs to its own weight, however, with the tannins and ponderous fruit eschewing the acidity. | 88