Wines (12 View)

A Rosenthal import

93 points James Suckling
Red berries and cherries with hints of sweet vanilla, almost honey, and some flower petals. Full-bodied, round and silky with firm, fruit and spice-coated tannins and a long, savory finish. Needs time to integrate. Try from 2023

Organic

Pardusco Private is a red wine made according to the ancient Portuguese traditions, meaning, a red wine with a long ageing in used barrels. In this wine we find the ancient Alvarelhão variety, known locally as Brancelho. After the vinification followed an ageing in used barrels for 24 months. A very original red, silky and with a strong minerality hint.

Handpicked grapes into small boxes and carried to the winery in a short period of time. Very soft pressing of the whole de-stemmed grapes. Fermentation in stainless steel vat followed by an ageingin used 225-litre French oak barrels during 24 months. During the ageing 10% of Alvarinho was added. 12 months ageing in bottle in order to fully harmonize the fruitiness of the wine with the oak.

Pale ruby color. Strong aromas of ripen red fruits wrapped in delicate aromas of cedar. In the palate is dry, with a stressed and refreshing acidity. High concentration of red fruits with mineral flavors like leather and earth. It ends long, silky and very mineral.

93 pts Wine Advocate
The Argiano 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of considerable bandwidth with lots of dark fruit, rich plum and spice. It carries medium fruit weight and concentration that proves more than enough to surround and soften the spicy oak notes and toast that also play an important role in this hot-vintage Brunello. The results are plump and slightly round, but you also get the acidity and the tannic structure of an age-worthy Sangiovese. Organically farmed fruit is selected from across the best parcels of the estate, and some of the vines are up to 55 years old. Production is 130,000 bottles, and I would recommend setting this bottle aside for near- to medium-term drinking.

92 points Wine Spectator
This delivers a pure beam of cassis, plum puree and anise notes, offering a flash of sweet spice on the finish. Moderately toasty, with a very polished mouthfeel. Crowd pleaser. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2030.

99 points James Suckling
Breathtaking. Exceptional integration of super ripe blackberries and the very finest oak. The tannins build up beautifully, forming wave upon wave as the wine flows across the palate. Then the wave breaks on your palate and shoots way out at the finish, so that you wonder where it will end and normal life begin again. Needs time to soften, but this is so, so good. (2/2019)

97 points Jeb Dunnuck
As with the 2015, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve shows the vintage beautifully and is more pure, classic, and elegant. Notes of creme de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, and freshly crushed rocks give way to a medium to full-bodied, seamless Cabernet that has remarkable purity of fruit and impeccable balance. Made from 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot aged in 83% new French oak, it?€?s more reserved and backward than the 2015 and will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. (1/2019)

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot aged for 20 months in 83% new French oak, the deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve sings of creme de cassis, kirsch, blackberry preserves and blueberry pie, with loads of chocolate box, floral and baking spices hints. Full-bodied with a firm, chewy frame and loads of savory accents, it delivers a long, multilayered finish. (10/2018)

95 points Vinous
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is superb. Rich, deep and explosive, with tremendous density, the 2016 possesses notable character and breeding. The 2016 is a dark, muscular wine that will drink well for many years once it recovers from its recent bottling. A blast of dark cherry, plum, chocolate, leather and menthol punctuates the finish. Steinhauer and Bancroft Ranch form the core of the 2016. 95+ (12/2018)

93 points Wine Advocate
2017 was a very challenging year, as most of their vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra in Rioja were affected by frost, unlike others in nearby Laguardia. Not only was it frost, but they also had hail later on in the season. Quantities suffered?€?they told me they lost 70% of the crop in Rioja that year?€?but they were happy about the quality of the 2017 Mac??n, being very careful with the fermentation and separating the press wine by quality. The 4,000-liter oak foudres helped to polish the tannins, and they used 50% new barrels. The ??levage lasted 16 moths. It's a little riper than the Cl??sico from 2018 that I tasted next to it, with a little more alcohol (14.5%) and mellow acidity. It's clearly a weaker vintage, and the wine shows it: the fruit is a little ripe and shows some tiredness, like it's evolving at a faster pace. It has abundant, slightly rustic tannins. 40,400 bottles, 2,566 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in September 2019. Quantities reflect the low yields.

93 pts Wine Spectator
This red is sleek and solid, in the modern style. Bright cherry, berry and currant flavors mingle with licorice, black tea and mineral notes, giving way to a floral and minerally finish. The firm tannins are well-integrated and juicy acidity keeps this lively. MourvA¨dre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Drink now through 2029

Organic

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Pinot Noir

93 points Wine Advocate
This is the so-called "green label" Brunello with proprietor Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini's signature on the front of the bottle. Her classic 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is sharp and tonic with wild raspberry, cassis, lilac, earth and garden herb. There is a sweet note of sour cherry on the mid-weight finish. This is an ample 160,000-bottle production made in a traditional approach with two years in casks made with both Slavonian and French oak.

Organic

Traditional Sardinian producer with large cavernous cement tanks under house; old vine Cannonau (avg. 50 yr. old). Decomposed granitic soils gives wines acidic zing. Practicing organic.