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"Bright and jazzy, with juicy blackberry, chocolate and herb flavors, lingering against tight tannins."

"Fabulously rich, dense and well-balanced in this vintage. The Costa Grimaldi is made from a parcel of the Via Nuova vineyard in Barolo at 350 meters above sea level with a sheltered south-east exposure that provides respite in warmer years. This shows tons of vintage character in its racy, elegant fruit and silky tannins, along with superb depth and intensity, all of which have been achieved in a fairly restrained style. This is a fabulous effort from Einaudi."

"This shows how powerful Argentine Malbec can be, with a torrent of blackberry, boysenberry and bittersweet ganache notes. But there's exceptional drive and focus here as well, with a great graphite spine driving through the spice- and floral-infused finish. A stunner for its combination of power and precision, and the best wine yet from this winery."

"Deeply pitched aromas of black cherry, currant and coffee. Sweet, silky and full, but with lovely ripe acidity to frame the dense black fruit, mocha and mineral flavors. Showing a glossy aspect to its fruit that is exhilarating, even if this deep, fairly tannic wine is a bit sullen at present, despite showing excellent back-end breadth." Reviewed by Stephen Tanzer.

"It reveals lots of sweet cassis intermixed with subtle smoke and forest floor, undeniable lusciousness and full-bodied hedonism. The wood component is pushed to the background, and the wine is extremely viscous, round and delicious. Additional complexity should continue to emerge over the next decade and this 2009 should keep for 20-30 years." Reviewed by Robert Parker.