Wines

93 Points! Pure and focused, offering violet, cherry, raspberry and mineral aromas and flavors. Shaped by vibrant acidity, this red persists with a lingering, resonant aftertaste. - Wine Spectator

90 Points! Attractive nose of plums, fresh blueberries, thyme and orange zest. Fruity and crunchy with a medium to full body, easy tannins and fresh finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! Blueberries, dark chocolate, blackberries, bark and tobacco leaves on the nose. Dark and inky with a full body, fine tannins and savory finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

From 100+ Year-Old Vines!

This is another stellar set of Champagne from Christophe Baron. The 2018s are simply lights out. Readers will note the addition of a new wine in this range, the Closeaux, which rounds out the collection of four pure Meunier Champagnes, all bottled in magnum only. Mignon and his cousins practice a decidedly Burgundian approach to winemaking. The wines are fermented in 600L Taransaud demi-muids (25% new), with heavy lees stirring, an approach Baron favors for building the wines, especially on the mid-palate and that allows for bottling with no dosage. As for 2018, Baron calls it a typical modern vintage for Champagne marked by climate change. “You better get used to it, because this is the future!” he told me emphatically. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

This is another stellar set of Champagne from Christophe Baron. The 2018s are simply lights out. Readers will note the addition of a new wine in this range, the Closeaux, which rounds out the collection of four pure Meunier Champagnes, all bottled in magnum only. Mignon and his cousins practice a decidedly Burgundian approach to winemaking. The wines are fermented in 600L Taransaud demi-muids (25% new), with heavy lees stirring, an approach Baron favors for building the wines, especially on the mid-palate and that allows for bottling with no dosage. As for 2018, Baron calls it a typical modern vintage for Champagne marked by climate change. “You better get used to it, because this is the future!” he told me emphatically. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

This is another stellar set of Champagne from Christophe Baron. The 2018s are simply lights out. Readers will note the addition of a new wine in this range, the Closeaux, which rounds out the collection of four pure Meunier Champagnes, all bottled in magnum only. Mignon and his cousins practice a decidedly Burgundian approach to winemaking. The wines are fermented in 600L Taransaud demi-muids (25% new), with heavy lees stirring, an approach Baron favors for building the wines, especially on the mid-palate and that allows for bottling with no dosage. As for 2018, Baron calls it a typical modern vintage for Champagne marked by climate change. “You better get used to it, because this is the future!” he told me emphatically. - Antoni Galloni, Vinous Media

This Barbera matures in 50hl steel tanks for 9 months, reaching a perfect balance of deep red fruits, perfume and pinpoint acidity. A joy to drink. Fruit is sourced exclusively form Monforte d'Alba...

91 Points! The 2020 Barbera d'Asti Montebruna is a plump and rich red with ripe berry notes, toasted spice, cinnamon and grilled Mediterranean herb. Despite the heft and brawn of this wine, the mouthfeel is pushed along by fresh acidity and a powerful 15% alcohol content. This is perfect companion to a meal heavy in cheese or cream. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

91 Points! Aromas of cherry chocolate, dark licorice, hints of bark and moist earth. Full-bodied with velvety, supple tannin structure and some chalky texture in the finish. Juicy and flavorful. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Part of the Scarrone Vineyard was replanted in 1989, and these younger vines give rise to the Vietti 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Scarrone. This wine is also thick and darkly concentrated but not to the same degree as the version made with fruit from old vines. Indeed, it's fun to try these two bottles side by side. Dark fruit, baked plum and sweet spice give extra dimension and volume to this wine. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

Winery notes: “A rare and typical champagne that truly reflects the terroir… A pure and intense moment with Champagne’s oldest grape variety. Made with 100% Meunier grape varietal, this surprising cuvée unveils subtle and fruity perfumes as well as a beautiful aromatic complexity.”

91 Points! Bright yellow. Intense, mineral-laced aromas of redcurrent, blood orange, ginger and smoke, with a hint of white pepper in the background. Dry and nervy, displaying very good clarity to its red berry and citrus fruit flavors. I'd have thought of dosage here was quite a bit lower. Spreads out slowly on the finish, with the mineral and red berry notes echoing. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

95+ Points! The 2021 Concreto Malbec has to be one of the finest vintages of this wine despite its youth and still shy personality. But there are tons of flowers, wild herbs and berries there waiting to emerge in an insinuating way, with austerity but unfurling layers and layers as the wine sits in the glass. It's incredibly fine-boned with chalky tannins that scream limestone, full of precision and purity. For Sebastián Zuccardi, they didn't do anything different, it's just the character of the year. This is the wine that explains their philosophy without breaking your piggy bank. It is delicious, serious, approachable and with aging potential. What else do you want? I have sometimes confused this wine blind with one of their top bottlings. This is one of the best values around. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! Such a brooding nose with black pepper, violet and fresh blueberry and blackberry fruit. Spicy and tight on the palate, but super polished, racy and refined. Medium-to full-bodied red with beautiful tannin tension and expressive, floral notes in the finish. Exemplary and authentic! So delicious now. Why wait? - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2021 Malbec Concreto from Paraje Altamira, Uco Valley was aged in concrete. Purple in the glass. It has a crisp, expressive nose of fresh plum, sour cherry and hints of blackberry, herbs, violets and lavender. Free-flowing but relaxed in the mouth, the palate leaves behind a mixture of chalk and juicy freshness before the sustained, pure fruit finish. The year suited this style perfectly. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

92 Points! The varietal Serie A range includes wines from the "Argentinean" varieties, and the star of this range is, of course, the 2022 Serie A Malbec. Here they search for typicity from Valle de Uco, with freshness and flowers, red rather than black fruit, nice tannic structure and purity; they are not looking for complexity or limestone but varietal character, at which this excels. This has juiciness and structure and is fine-boned. It is very different from the Bonarda in this range. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com