Massolino has long been one of my personal favorite producers of extraordinary Barolo and their Serralunga bottling can, in excellent vintages, be one of Piedmont's most compelling wines. 2016 is, of course, being touted by most experts as one of the most successful Barolo vintages ever, and that is evident in this very special wine. It is #7 on Wine Spectator's list of the 100 Most Exciting Wines Of The Year for 2020 and it's definitely deserving of that accolade. What really stands out is its structural underpinning of tannin which promises a very long life. Copious aromas of bright...

I have known Paul Draper, the long-time president and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards, for over 30 years, so I freely admit that I am predisposed to like Ridge Zinfandels. However, at our Zinfandel tasting last May, I thought the 2018 Ridge Geyserville and 2018 Ridge Lytton Springs were two of the finest Zinfandels I have ever tasted. Rich, perfumed, full-bodied wines with underlying spiciness and abundant tannins which promise for excellent mid-term ageing potential. Robert Parker's review of them, along with the 2018 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel, have just been released and they are the highest ratings ever for these three...

If you have tasted the 2017 or 2018 vintages of the Domaine Nico Pinot Noir Grand Mere and Grand Pere, you already know that this winery which is part of Nicolas Catena in Mendoza is making truly extraordinary wines in a place where it wouldn't be obvious to expect to find Pinot Noir of this quality. Well, believe it or not, the 2017 Domaine Nico Pinot Noir Savante is a substantial step up in quality from those two wines. In our tasting with the head winemaker, Nesti Bajda, a couple of months ago, we said that his model for the...

I have a friend in Nashville who, every time I run into him, always asks me as a joke, "Tasted any good box wines lately?" Of course, there are a handful of bag in the box wines which are actually pretty good wines. But this Spanish red is astonishing. Tiza Tempranillo, $19.99 per 3 liter bag in the box (the equivalent of $5 per bottle!) The grapes are from 30 year old vines 700 meters above sea level grown on sand and red clay with chunks of chalk (old vines and altitude are good things) in Castillo La Mancha. The...

Antonio Galloni of Vinous just announced his Winery Of The Year for 2020: Bedrock Vineyards! Having tasted these wines a couple of months ago with Joel Peterson, I am not the least bit surprised. They were absolutely stunning that night and will only improve with additional time in the bottle. Here is what Antonio Galloni has to say about Bedrock: "It is never easy to choose one winery above all others, especially with the regions I am fortunate enough to cover. This year, I was especially impressed by Bedrock and the 2018s I tasted with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW. One after...