3 | Wine | Barbaresco, 95 or higher

"Complex, fresh aromas of concentrated blackberry, grilled meat and chocolate. Full-bodied and chewy, with caressing tannins and a long, long finish. A brick house and beautifully decorated. Powerful."

This wine was named #17 of Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2012.

"This concentrated, well-toned red is packed with cherry, plum, soy and spice aromas and flavors. Round and balanced, with a sweet berry and mineral aftertaste. Really builds nicely, gaining elegance and intensity. The fine aftertaste of cherry, tobacco and woodsy notes lingers."

"The 2008 Sori Tildin is impressive. I confess I wasn’t quite prepared for the assault of fruit and tannins here. Sori Tildin is so often a graceful, elegant wine, but that is not the case in 2008. That’s not to say elegance is missing, but this is a big, big wine with tons of intensity and richness, all woven together beautifully. It’s tough to find a comparison with a previous vintage, as this is a singular Tildin. The flavors are familiar if a touch on the dark side, but the structure is closer than that of Sori San Lorenzo. Flowers, tar, leather and licorice wrap around the palate. This is a fabulous showing and a great wine in the making."

"Gaja’s 2008 Sori San Lorenzo is impeccable from start to finish. The 2008 is a round, seamless San Lorenzo with seemingly no hard edges and terrific overall balance. The signature aromas and flavors are there, as is the wine’s typical gravitas, yet the 2008 has an extra level of sweetness, its size notwithstanding. The wine possesses striking inner perfume and fabulous overall balance. The sheer excitement of the very finest years isn’t quite there, but this is a fine bottle just the same. An explosive, juicy finish rounds things out in style."

"It shows remarkable balance and harmony in an incredibly pure, graceful style. The tannins are so finessed and elegant it is hard to actually perceive them on the palate. Here too, the wine shows awesome inner balance and poise. Sweet raspberries, flowers, roses and spices are just some of the nuances that emerge from this incredibly delicious, promising Barbaresco."

"The 2007 Barbaresco Santo Stefano is a gorgeous wine that combines element of ripeness, structure and the intense spiciness that makes the best wines from the Santo Stefano vineyard so compelling. Floral, high-toned notes appear on the silky finish, rounding out this highly promising wine. Gorgeous textural elegance and balance are the hallmarks of the 2007 Santo Stefano."

"The 2005 Barbaresco Santo Stefano is striking in its beauty. This firm, structured wine bursts from the glass with layers of dark red fruit, spices, flowers and menthol. Medium in body, the wine possesses notable inner beauty in a transparent, almost weightless style. There is superb pedigree here, not to mention tons of class. Once again the Santo Stefano bottling delivers the goods."

"Slightly liqueur-like aromas of raspberry, minerals and menthol. Compellingly dense, sweet and deep, with a saline minerality contributing to the wine's chewy texture. The explosive, spicy, resonating finish features strong, horizontal tannins and compelling sappiness. More elegant than Vietti's Barolos but nonetheless hugely rich for Barbaresco." Reviewed by Stephen Tanzer.

"Giacosa's 2004 Barbaresco Santo Stefano is a superb wine. Sweet, floral, mentholated aromatics meld into an expressive core of ripe fruit, with superb length and elegant tannins to round out the finish. Made in a more linear style than the Asili and Rabaja, it doesn-t possess the expansiveness of those two wines, but it does reveal tremendous depth, harmony and balance. This pure, sweet, long Barbaresco is the best Santo Stefano in years."

"Fabulous aromas of rose petals and cherries with hints of raspberries. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and an incredible finish. This is so fine and so long. A real beauty that grows and grows on the palate. Great Nebbiolo. Greatest Costa Russi ever, from 34-year-old vines."