3 | Wine | 91 to 95, 1997

"Offers a stunning aromatic display of jammy black fruits, balsam wood, dried herbs, licorice, and a Provencal/garrigue smell. Some peppery notes even came through. Full-bodied, concentrated, and fat, with high glycerin levels, a chewy, plush, succulent personality, sweet tannin, gobs of fruit, and a long, heady finish." Reviewed by Robert Parker.

"Lovely aromas of vanilla, cream and almond, with a hint of tropical fruit. Full-bodied and very sweet, yet ripe and balanced, with a lovely, ripe fruit aftertaste."

"A dark, dense, richly flavored wine, with tiers of currant, mint, blackberry, sage and mineral. Packs in lots of stuffing while maintaining a sense of fine balance and elegance. Long and persistent flavors on the finish, with firm yet well-integrated tannins. Could be a long-ager. Honoring its late winemaker and founder Joe Heitz, this is a fairly dramatic youngster made from young vines. No shyness on the price; longtime collectors would do well to check this one out."

"This wine is a fleshy, silky-textured, opulent wine with a gorgeous nose of roasted herbs, coffee, jammy black cherry and plum-like fruit.... Asian spice, licorice, and blackberry and cherry notes with tobacco spice all add to this complex, very involved, yet gorgeously symmetrical Dominus. The wine is medium to full-bodied, very concentrated, and silky-textured. It is gorgeous to drink now, but should age easily for 10-15 years." Reviewed by Robert Parker, Dec 2000.

"Possesses striking detail and depth in a surprisingly generous style for this wine. An inner core of perfumed varietal fruit emerges from the glass, along with expressive aromas of smoke, minerals, mint, flowers and licorice, all of which are woven together with extraordinary elegance. The finish is long, sweet and sublime. Everything about this wine speaks to elegance, but in 1997 Salon is also a pleasure to drink young, unlike the 1996 which remains painfully backward."

"The 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella Classico is a gorgeous, refined wine with layers of sweet, perfumed fruit that flow gracefully from its medium-bodied frame. The 1997 Recioto isn’t quite as extroverted as the profound 1995, but it does offer impeccable balance in a relatively understated, slender style for this house. Sweet spices, licorice, leather and incense linger on the long and immensely satisfying finish. I tasted the 1997 Recioto from both 375ml and 750ml bottles and found the wine consistently superb."

"Highly complex aromas of raspberry, red cherries macerated in alcohol, violet, balsamic vinegar, rose, and milk and bitter chocolate. Amazingly rich, superconcentrated wine, with flavors of chocolate-covered raspberry, cherries macerated in alcohol and fig jam. Refreshing acidity and very silky tannins make this an elegant blockbuster, a feat only the greatest wines manage to achieve."