Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Medium Ruby with aromas of red fruits, floral and new leather notes, fruit sources from several vineyard sites. On the palate flavors of cherry and plum fruits with tobacco and pepper spice. Firm chewy tannins, savory on a medium+ finish ending with notes of oak, mineral and earthy character. Drinking well now, good value. — 8 days ago

Robert Torretti

9.2

Excellent orange / skin maceration wine with some age on it. Enjoyed at Monterey in midtown with tonight’s special Lobster El Diablo (spicy tomato sauce with 3lb lobster flambéed in tequila). Good acidity and some good flavor with the spice. — 8 days ago

with Christine

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.3

Truly one of Italy’s best red wines every year. Prune, balsamic, wild herbs. — 2 months ago

John Malcolm

9.8

Spectacular. Decanted for about 10 hours. Full-bodied. Mocha, dark fruits, leather, tobacco, sweet cherries, raspberries. So happy I have a few bottles left. — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.2

“Bricco Ambrogio” stands alone as the only MGA in the tiny commune of Roddi and it’s almost completely under vine. In fact, the most prominent geological feature in Roddi is the hill of Bricco Ambrogio. While the Lodali family were the first to bottle a single expression, back in the late 1970’s, we largely have Paolo Scavino to thank for the growth of its reputation as a source of depth and balanced Barolo over the last 20+ years.

The 2020 “Bricco Ambrogio” pours a bright, luminous garnet color; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing and predominately red fruited with notes of Morello cherry, cranberry, raspberry, rosebushes, tar, dried green herbs, cedar chest, spices, and gravely earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finishes long, grippy and spicy. A lovely Bricco Ambrogio with beautiful balance and sneaky power; arguably the benchmark for the MGA. Drinking well now in its youth (thank you 2020) but will surely gain complexity after 2030 and deliver smiles through 2040+. — 17 days ago

Jeff Ryan

9.3

Primo orange wine . Bea never disappoints. — 21 days ago

Justin Farrar

9.0

Can’t go wrong with fiano — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Mention “Monvigliero” around any Barolo nut and there is a better than good chance you might witness the following behavior: waxing poetic in hushed tones, sighing, swooning…possibly fainting. Monvigliero truly is the zeitgeist. For over 40 years, Comm. G.B. Burlotto (and Fratelli Alessandria before them), have quietly been making great single-vineyard Monvigliero and it was only in the last 10-15 years that the world started to catch on to the magic that was happening in Verduno. In the last handful of years alone, there have been a flurry of producers with holdings in Monvigliero that have released their own single-vineyard expression. However, what many may not realize is that Enrico Scavino and his daughters have been producing a “Monvigliero” since 2007, making them one of the first half dozen to do so. I’m only suggesting that the Scavino’s knew there was something special there well before the hype train came to the station.

Popped and poured; enjoyed with dinner and over the course of a couple hours. The 2020 “Monvigliero” pours a deep garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. The nose is gorgeous; seemingly darker fruited with blackberry, pomegranate, black cherry lozenges, roses and spice box. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin (though friendly) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and lithe. An elegant wine and downright delicious. I think Paolo Scavino did a fabulous job of capturing the synergy of what Mother Nature gave in the 2020 vintage and the source of their fruit in the heart of the Monvigliero MGA. These are very early days for this wine but it’s already a joy to drink now but I expect this will continue a lovely evolution through 2038, easy. — 23 days ago

Carolyn Herlihy

9.1

Amazing! Thick and bold, a dry after taste. Deliciously paired well with steak, veggies, and lasagna. — a month ago

Matt Perlman

9.4

Beautiful. Toasted nuts, orange blossom, fruitcake, spice and aromatic wood. Surprisingly versatile and fresh — 2 months ago