Wine Advocate (93)

The 2012 Barbaresco Gallina Vürsù is a gorgeous expression that marches to the beat of its own drum (as do all of Giorgio Rivetti's fascinating wines). The wine delivers intensity, density and freshness in equal measure throughout its balanced presentation. The perfumed bouquet offers dark fruit and dried cherry with subtle touches of cinnamon and dark cola in a background role.

Wine Advocate (93)

The 2012 Scrio is a unique and dare I say atypical expression of Syrah. The bouquet presents big intensity with cola, balsam herb and licorice. At the back are tones of tar, Teriyaki sauce and barbecue smoke. I don't think I have ever tasted a Syrah quite like this. It shows a level of balsam intensity that I have never previously encountered. The bouquet glows with Tuscan sunshine.

Meticulously crafted in the esteemed Poggio Antico estate in Montalcino, Tuscany, the Lemartine Poggio Antico 2012 honours Italian viticulture at its finest. This Brunello offers robust depth of character, attributed to the specific terroir's clay-limestone profile - ideal for Sangiovese grapes. Produced using eco-sustainable processes, the wine celebrates the land’s richness, tradition, and affinity for excellence.

The wine first undergoes a meticulous selection process and maceration. Aged for three years in large Slavonian oak barrels, it further rests in the bottle for several months, enhancing its elegant complexity. Marked by a deep garnet colour, it exhibits fragrant notes of ripe cherries, tobacco, and subtle hints of leather.

The winemaking tradition in Lemartine Poggio Antico, dating back to the eighteenth century, ensures each bottle captures the ethereal essence of Tuscany’s allure. An embodiment of devotion to quality, the Lemartine Poggio Antico 2012 is a paragon of treasured Italian craftsmanship.

Wine Advocate (91)

The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino offers bright intensity and an elegant approach. The bouquet is redolent of cassis, dried blackberry, toasted almond and pipe tobacco. There are sweet notes from the fruit and savory notes developed over the wine's long aging period. Both aspects are nicely contrasted against each other. This wine should continue to evolve and will put on more weight with age.

Wine Advocate (91)

The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino offers bright intensity and an elegant approach. The bouquet is redolent of cassis, dried blackberry, toasted almond and pipe tobacco. There are sweet notes from the fruit and savory notes developed over the wine's long aging period. Both aspects are nicely contrasted against each other. This wine should continue to evolve and will put on more weight with age.

Vinous (96)

The 2012 Barolo Le Vigne, here in a library release, is still a very young wine. Bright acids lift a core of red fruit in a Barolo that impresses with its vibrancy. Spice, blood orange, mint, rose petal and lavender open with a bit of time in the glass. The 2012 showed quite a bit of potential as a young wine, now, that potential is really starting to come through. This is a terrific showing.

Vinous (96)

The 2012 Barolo Le Vigne, here in a library release, is still a very young wine. Bright acids lift a core of red fruit in a Barolo that impresses with its vibrancy. Spice, blood orange, mint, rose petal and lavender open with a bit of time in the glass. The 2012 showed quite a bit of potential as a young wine, now, that potential is really starting to come through. This is a terrific showing.

Vinous (95)

The 2012 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is exquisite. Soft and silky (for a still-youthful Barolo), the 2012 is positively stellar. Ripe dark cherry, plum, spice, leather, menthol and licorice build effortlessly with a bit of time in the glass. The 2012 is not a profound wine, but it is exceptionally beautiful and also a fabulous choice for drinking now and over the next 15-20 years

Vinous (95)

The 2012 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is exquisite. Soft and silky (for a still-youthful Barolo), the 2012 is positively stellar. Ripe dark cherry, plum, spice, leather, menthol and licorice build effortlessly with a bit of time in the glass. The 2012 is not a profound wine, but it is exceptionally beautiful and also a fabulous choice for drinking now and over the next 15-20 years

James Suckling (99)

Fantastic aromas of lavender, rosemary, violets and currants. Full body, a wonderful concentration of fruit yet tense and taunt energy. The new wood is exposed now but will become integrated and polished. Give it three or four years together. The pure merlot magic is there. The 2011 was a perfect wine, and this is very close indeed. Drink in 2019.

James Suckling (99)

Fantastic aromas of lavender, rosemary, violets and currants. Full body, a wonderful concentration of fruit yet tense and taunt energy. The new wood is exposed now but will become integrated and polished. Give it three or four years together. The pure merlot magic is there. The 2011 was a perfect wine, and this is very close indeed. Drink in 2019.

Wine Advocate (93)

A 50-50 blend of Merlot and Sangiovese, the 2012 Siepi is a beautiful wine that bursts open with enormous fruit intensity and purity. Siepi is a unique wine that is characterized by a deep sense of sharpness and focus that brings a very bright quality to the bouquet. This vintage represents the 20th anniversary of this wine (the first vintage produced was 1992) although this special single-vineyard has been in family hands since 1435 (you read that correctly). Older Merlot vines were replanted three years ago.

Vinous (89+)

Medium bright red. Subdued, slightly warm aromas and flavors of red cherry, sweet spices and underbrush. Then at once sweet and sturdy in the mid-palate, with precise red cherry and redcurrant fruit flavors, but turns a touch dry on the back end. This kght come around in a few years.

Vinous (94)

At nearly ten years of age, the 2012 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda is a terrific choice for readers who want to enjoy a Rionda with a bit of bottle age. Moreover, the 2012 is a wine of pure charm and seduction, which makes it a joy to taste today. Lavender, rose petal, blood orange, star anise, spice, earthiness and red/purplish fruit convey the inner perfume that is such a Rionda signature. The 2012 doesn't quite have the complexity or structure of some vintages, but that does not attract from its tremendous appeal. There is more than enough energy and tannic grip to ensure for another 15-20 years of fine drinking, maybe more, so readers can drink or hold. The classically austere finish will delight fans of traditionally made Barolo.

Experience the riveting allure of the distinguished Oreste Stefano Barolo Perno 2012, a timeless exemplar of the Piemonte region's grandeur. Produced by Oreste Stefano - a cellarer famed for a meticulous approach, this Barolo is a sumptuous homage to traditional vinification. Assembled entirely from Nebbiolo grapes, this vintage embodies a divine synthesis of finesse and potency.

Matured in Slavonian oak barrels, the Oreste Stefano Barolo Perno 2012 offers an opulent tapestry of harmonised tannins, combined with a brilliant acidity countenance. Its olfactory profile is a graceful serenade of roses, cherries, and hint of licorice. On the palate, one can expect a full-bodied wine with a seamless balance of ripe red fruits, laced subtly with earthy undertones.

Crafted in the verdant swathes of Barolo Perno, famed for its calcareous-clay matrix, this stellar wine faithfully represents the terrains' unique microclimate, culminating in a lasting, elegant finish.

James Suckling (96)

Lots of blackcurrants and blackberry aromas and flavors with hints of bark and mushrooms. Full-bodied, chewy and rich. A powerful red with plenty of structure and depth. This Bordeaux blend from Bolgheri is a challenger to Sassicaia and Ornellaia. Better in 2018.

James Suckling (96)

Lots of blackcurrants and blackberry aromas and flavors with hints of bark and mushrooms. Full-bodied, chewy and rich. A powerful red with plenty of structure and depth. This Bordeaux blend from Bolgheri is a challenger to Sassicaia and Ornellaia. Better in 2018.

James Suckling (97)

A tight and silky red with compacted fruit and tannin texture featuring blackcurrant, mushroom and bark undertones. Full body, firm tannins and a minerally finish. Excellent structure and mouthfeel. A cooler style of Ornellaia, bringing it back to the classicism of this celebrated region. Bordeaux blend. Better in 2018.

James Suckling (97)

A tight and silky red with compacted fruit and tannin texture featuring blackcurrant, mushroom and bark undertones. Full body, firm tannins and a minerally finish. Excellent structure and mouthfeel. A cooler style of Ornellaia, bringing it back to the classicism of this celebrated region. Bordeaux blend. Better in 2018.

James Suckling (97)

A tight and silky red with compacted fruit and tannin texture featuring blackcurrant, mushroom and bark undertones. Full body, firm tannins and a minerally finish. Excellent structure and mouthfeel. A cooler style of Ornellaia, bringing it back to the classicism of this celebrated region. Bordeaux blend. Better in 2018.

Vinous (94)

The 2012 Barolo Ginestra Riserva is gorgeous. Fresh, aromatic and beautifully lifted, the 2012 is all grace. Ginestra Barolos are often brawny and powerful. Conterno's 2012 stands out for its sensuality, finesse and total sense of harmony. Bright acids perk up a core of sweet red berry fruit as the 2012 gradually reveals its many charms.

James Suckling (96)

Very racy and refined with bright acidity and a blueberry and dark-chocolate character. Love the interplay of acidity and ripe fruit. Minerals and dark fruits, too. Very Pomerol. Pure merlot.

Vinous (96)

A translucent ruby with purple hues in the glass, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Bassolino di Sopra wafts up with an incredibly pretty mix of dusty dried roses, cedar spice box, wild strawberries and incense. This is elegance personified, yet also delicate in character, with a silken wave of ripe red fruits laced with sweet herbs tones, as mildly grippy tannins slowly saturate toward the close. The 2012 Bassolino di Sopra is still structured through the finale, leaving a primary concentration that creates youthful poise, as wild berry nuances slowly fade. It’s amazing, but this still needs time and has the balance to last.

Vinous (95)

The 2012 Barolo Bussia Dardi Le Rose is another fabulous wine from Poderi Colla. Deep, layered and quite giving at the moment, the 2012 has more than enough depth to drink well for many years to come. It is perhaps not as pedigreed as the 2013 tasted alongside it, but it is very, very close. In fact, this is one of the highlights of the vintage.

Vinous (95)

A taster would never know that the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino hailed from a warm vintage, with its bright and airy bouquet that blends mentholated herbs with exotic spice, worn leather and dusty dried strawberries. This coasts across the palate with ease, zesty and fresh, with tart red berries and sour citrus tones that add tension, yet also maintains a marvelous vibrancy. While long and gently structured still, there’s a finesse here that keeps me looking back to the glass for more, as the 2012 leaves the mouth watering with a tart cherry pit twang. Production was down around 30% in 2012, with a strict selection in the vineyards and a much earlier harvest that ended around September 15th. While drinking this today is certainly an option, there are still many years of evolution in store.

Vinous (95)

The 2012 Il Carbonaione comes across as quite shy and reserved today, with less of its typical exuberance. That just makes me think the wine is going to need a few years to blossom. Sweet red cherry, plum, kirsch, spice and rose petal nuances gradually emerge from the glass, but the 2012 remains reticent and not fully expressive. I would not be surprised to see the market look past the 2012, as it is not at all showy, but that will just create an opportunity for savvy consumers. There is plenty to look forward to. Readers will have to be patient, though. Over the years, Il Carbonaione has built a tremendous track record of aging very well. Next to Chianti Classico's other 100% Sangioveses, Carbonaione is made in a sweeter, jammier style with more mid-palate opulence. Although showy in its youth, Carbonaione needs time in bottle to show at its best.

Vinous (90)

The 2012 Barolo Riserva Bussia Vigna Colonnello is an intriguing wine. Whole clusters add an exotic element of perfume to the Nebbiolo fruit in this expressive, highly nuanced Barolo. Orange peel, mint, sage and pine overtones all emerge with time in the glass. Understated and also persistent, the 2012 has quite a bit of personality.