93 points

2020 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico DOCG

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“A complex red, with a core of cherry and strawberry fruit framed by almond, loamy earth and iron notes. Silky yet solidly built, with excellent balance and a long, fruit- and mineral-tinged aftertaste. Sangiovese and Canaiolo. Best from 2025 through 2033. 3,900 cases imported.”

94 points

2019 Isole e Olena Cabernet Sauvignon Toscana IGT

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“A tightly wound style, exhibiting blackberry, black currant, cedar, iron and tobacco aromas and flavors. Lively, with dense yet finely wrought tannins and a long, concentrated finish. Powerful, this remains within bounds. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Best from 2025 through 2040. 90 cases imported.”

95 points

2010 Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“This dessert-style white delivers honey, caramel, clove, horehound and butterscotch aromas and flavors. Lush and toasty, with vivid acidity and an aftertaste of roasted walnut. Features fine complexity and length. Trebbiano and Malvasia. Drink now through 2038. 60 cases imported.”

91 points

2021 Donnafugata Sherazade

Danielle Callegari, Wine Enthusiast, December 2023

“The nose starts with zingy, fruity notes of hibiscus, passion fruit, raspberries and slightly tart wild strawberries, before a metallic, earthy pepperiness emerges to provide balance. The palate dips the strawberries in milk chocolate, while tannins and acid walk in lockstep toward a finish that recalls the nose’s pepper.”

90 points

2019 Luke Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Wilfred Wong, Wilfred Wong, June 2023

“The 2019 Luke Cabernet Sauvignon is tight-knit and persistent on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of mineral notes, savory spices, and blackberries. Try it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye.”

#80 Top 100

2020 Isole e Olena 'Cepparello' Toscana IGT

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“96 points
Expressive and sumptuous from the get-go, this red features cherry, strawberry, rose, orange peel, mineral and Tuscan herb aromas and flavors. Sangiovese. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,800 cases made, 800 cases imported.”

91 points

2019 Isole e Olena Syrah Toscana IGT

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“Smooth and laced with blackberry, plum and bacon flavors, this red is well-wrought, with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Gains roundness and a drink me now feel from the fleshy texture. Syrah and Viognier. Drink now through 2030. 50 cases imported.”

90 points

2021 Isole e Olena Chardonnay Toscana IGT

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, October 2023

“The Isole e Olena 2021 Chardonnay Collezione Privata has a very citrusy side with grapefruit and preserved lemon. Those fresh aromas cede to hints of cinnamon and saffron, but the overall style is reductive in character. This is a medium-bodied white wine that delivers nice richness and salty mineral tones on the close. You get a lot of character with this Tuscan Chardonnay. However, the wine needs time to take on more weight and texture.Verging on creamy, this white features floral, peach, apple and baking spice aromas and flavors. Crisp, persisting on the finish with intensity and length. Drink now through 2027. 200 cases imported.”

94 points

2021 Isole e Olena Chardonnay Toscana IGT

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, May 2023

“The Isole e Olena 2021 Chardonnay Collezione Privata has a very citrusy side with grapefruit and preserved lemon. Those fresh aromas cede to hints of cinnamon and saffron, but the overall style is reductive in character. This is a medium-bodied white wine that delivers nice richness and salty mineral tones on the close. You get a lot of character with this Tuscan Chardonnay. However, the wine needs time to take on more weight and texture.”

94 points

2014 Piper-Heidsieck Vintage Brut

Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, December 2022

“A perfectly mature Champagne, this is just ready to drink. Fresh fruits contrast with the mature toastiness. The blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay gives texture plus minerality in harmony. Drink this fine wine now”

91 points

Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel

Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator, November 2023

“A firm Champagne, with a fine, lively mousse, showing a waft of smoke that winds through flavors of toasted brioche, blackberry, grapefruit pith and almond skin. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Disgorged 2022. Drink now.”

92+ points

Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel

Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck, November 2023

“Based on the 2018 vintage and Emelien's first vintage as the chef de cave, the NV Champagne Essentiel Extra Brut is 44% Pinot Noir, 34% Meunier, and the rest Chardonnay, with 27% reserve wine. It’s aged for four years prior to release with 4 grams per liter dosage. A brilliant pale yellow hue, the NV Champagne Essentiel Extra Brut is fresh and inviting, with a rounded and floral profile, offering pure notes of orange blossoms, fresh brioche, and fresh peach, It reveals a pure, ripe character on the palate, with a rounded mouthfeel, a pillowy mousse, balanced notes of grapefruit citrus, and a touch of warmth from the vintage. A very attractive wine, it will certainly have the potential to age over the coming 10 years”

93 points

2021 Donnafugata Ben Ryé

Danielle Callegari, Wine Enthusiast, December 2023

“This wine is light copper in both color and aroma, as yellow peaches and dried apricots play with varied orange notes on the nose. On the palate, the stone fruit and citrus continue glowing, before a warm, honeyed, almost syrupy finish that recalls a beeswax candle.”

92 points

2020 Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, January 2023

“This vivid red delivers telltale Sangiovese notes of iron, sanguine and tobacco that seep into a core of cherry and raspberry. Turns sleeker and more focused on the finish, where the fruit, mineral and savory elements converge.”

92 points

2020 Donnafugata Isolano Dolce&Gabbana

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, June 2023

“This is a new product from Donnafugata. The 2020 Etna Bianco Isolano is mostly Carricante blended with smaller percentages of complementary indigenous grapes. The wine shows a luminous golden color with greenish highlights. The bouquet is redolent of grapefruit, crushed stone, green apple, honeydew melon and crushed flint. There is light creaminess to this wine and sweet softness on the finish. The wine is held back a few years before its release and is part of the Dolce & Gabbana partnership”

98 points

2016 Pym-Rae Red Blend

Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, September 2023

“Beautiful opaque ruby colour, leading with a subtlety that reveals lovely cedar and tobacco spices and Bay Laurel. Full-bodied, exhibiting a delicate balance between the structure's intensity and the fruit profile's lightness. A substantial backbone of acid tension, a hallmark of the 2016 vintage, lends buoyancy to the density of fruit, which lands on the mid-palate and stays there, building in stature and gaining intensity. A blanket of long, velvety tannins wraps itself around the palate, and the finish is long and exacting with spearmint and a wealth of warm earthen hummus notes.”

98 points

2019 Pym-Rae Red Blend

Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, September 2023

“The Pym-Rae wines I tasted with Alfred Tesseron and Estate Manager Jérôme Ledit (2016-2019) all possess some measure of intensity, elegance, excellent balance, and freshness. Encompassing all those qualities is this 2019 vintage, seamless and simply mind-boggling. Pure blackberry fruit, creme de cassis, and graphite are nuanced by garrigue and cocoa nibs laced with orange essence. Medium to full-bodied with youthful blue fruit, spiced plum, and violets that meld together, creating a profoundly symphonic and lyrical fruit melody that is impossible to resist. The vines are surrounded by a pristine wilderness and many native California shrubs; those qualities emerge in the wine as sagebrush, fragrant Bay Laurel, and layers of ironstone mineral and earth. A kind of soy-soaked cedarwood rounds out this meticulous wine.”

91 points

2021 BenMarco Malbec

Jesica Vargas, Wine Enthusiast, December 2023

“There is vibrancy and energy in this structured Malbec. The nose offers chalk and light notes of berries. It’s full-bodied, with mineral-textured tannins sup[1]porting subtle flavors of cranberry, blackberry and black pepper. A touch of jarilla and rosemary fade in the aftertaste.”

98 points

2013 Rare Millésimé Brut

Jeb Dunnuck, Jeb Dunnuck, November 2023

“Originally a part of the legendary Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house, Rare is moving their Champagne Millésime to a new brand and wants it to stand alone. (Think Delamotte and Salon.) The 13th vintage for this cuvée, the 2013 Champagne Millésime is a blend of 70% Chardonnay with the rest Pinot Noir, with the majority of the blend coming from the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru and Premier Cru. A bright yellow hue, its aromatics are exquisite and well-balanced, with fresh notes of key lime, candied apple, fresh croissant dough, fresh pineapple, and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with a rounded and supple texture and a pillowy mousse. It’s long on the palate and has a silky personality as well as a long, pristine finish. It has a fantastic balance of decadence and freshness, and I could drink this all day. It’s going to have a long drinking window. Drink 2024-2044 and beyond. Disgorged December 2022.”

98 points

2019 Pym-Rae Red Blend

Jeb Dunnuck, Jeb Dunnuck, May 2023

“The 2019 Château Pym-Rae is a textbook Mount Veeder Cabernet with its exotic red, blue, and black fruits as well as complex notes of mountain scrub brush, lavender, tobacco, and lead pencil. Hitting the palate with full-bodied richness, it has a layered, elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine yet substantial tannins, and a great finish. It's one of those iron fist in a velvet glove type wines that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and shine over the following two decades.”