Deborah M

9.3

2017 Castello di Ama L’Apparita was the wine that I pulled for the evening. Italian Merlot. Ama is an old, fortified village situated near Radda and Gaiole in the heart of the Chianti Classico region. On the nose, intense dark berries. A full bodied wine with layers of beautiful ripe fruit. Perfect balance. Stellar finish. Stunning. — 2 years ago

Stuart Pollack

9.2

Very good Chianti with elegant start and nice bite in the finish. Well-made, but not better than other Chiantis for half the price. — 4 years ago

Pooneet K

9.1

Very nice Barolo especially with a couple hour decant. I like the 2012s, and even though this is 14.5% - worryingly high - still a nice wine with little heat poking through. Classic pale nebbiolo color in the glass. Excellent lifted acids complete a generous palate with great light red fruit. Nice. — 6 years ago

J. Kim

9.2

Something magical and special. The sense of balance, harmony and equilibrium is achieved with impossibly high mineral definition and aromatic range. Very high structural definition allows the flavors to couple very tightly, a quality possible only in the best Bordeaux and Burgundy. — 6 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Dark tawny color. Powerful nose. Notes of black plum, tea, roses, black earth and some anise. Balanced. Rounded out over 8 hours. In a great zone right now. Everything you want in a nicely aged Barolo. Give it its needed air. — 7 years ago

Deborah Nash

9.3

Almost black in color. Black cherries on the nose. Soft tannins. So delicious! — 8 years ago

Lyn Farmer

9.7

Made only six times in the past 33 years and not at all since 2004 (at least not yet released), this is a stunning rarity and the jewel of the iconic Dal Forno portfolio. Medium dry with plenty of acidity and crunchy fruit to maintain exceptional balance. While the Amarone grapes are dried about 19 days, the grapes for this recioto are dried for 40 days. Intense black fruit, print, tar and mocha. Surprisingly the wine is wonderfully fresh and delicious. Extremely long finish — 9 years ago

Tyler Felous

9.0

So young. So tight. Tried checking in early on the 2018 vintage (in 2023). So much potential but overshadowed by the structure. Will give the next bottle another decade. — 3 years ago

Anthony De Blasi

9.3

If I could I would give it a 9.35. This is the 4th bottle I have over several years and it keeps on evolving in a positive way. Nose is terrific and fruit, acidity and tannins are melting together. I still have 2 so probably the last one will be at peak 🤞 — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Been 1.5 years I think since I’ve had this. Roaring nose out of the gates. Big cherry fruit, saddle leather, dried roses, deep mineral imprint, airy and so clean. Dried roses. So many. Smells so old school yet clean. Gonzo out of the gates. Palate is ripe and generous with cigar box, mint and tobacco. So juicy and textured with ripe, generous and abundant tannins. Awesome fruit and depth and terrific inner mouth aromas. So pure and sappy. Amazing freshness. Terrific balance and sense of place. This will be a higher score in 2-5 hours. Book it.

In 2 hours it integrates and is so good. 9.3 to 9.4. — 5 years ago

Kaori B

9.0

Bought with talico.com had high ratings but i prefer the taleo wines (lower rating) better. This is definitely clean with substance but doesn’t have much character. Like the girl in your highschool twenty years ago who was nice (and you still remember her) but boring. Wine on its own is fine but I had a dark chocolate afterwards and it lost out. — 7 years ago

LM Segal

9.2

Great B d’Alba, powerful tarry aromatics and a grippy, silky-juicy trip over the palate. Will be way better (smoother, tad less tannic) in a year or two, when 93+ will be easy. Nice! — 8 years ago

Matt Sterr

9.5

Great Nebbiolo. Grippy and deep. 1 minute finish. Drinking right in the zone. — 8 years ago

with P

Mike Evans

9.1

Excellent balance, with tar and roses accenting fairly elegant dark fruit, supported by ample but fine tannin, drinking well now but not in any danger of dying. — 3 years ago

Eric Grasser

8.9

Very concentrated, old vine (50+) dolcetto seeped in ripe black berries and cherries. Layered earth components of ash and tar are backed up by a good dose of tannin. — 3 years ago

Paco Suro

9.2

Singing. Lively. Great tannins. Plenty of legs but in a great spot. — 4 years ago

Aaron Nathan

9.5

This is my type of wine. No bite in any way. Buttery as hell. “Crushable” as my somm says. Absolutely wonderful — 6 years ago

Jake Hartmann

9.6

Quite simply, buy this wine, wherever you see it. Barolo by another name, and ever so slight. — 7 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Consumed over a 90 minute period. A little wacky right after the cork was pulled. After about 15 minutes dark plums and blackberry liqueur started to show. Then salmiakki (salted licorice), oiled leather, and black tea showed up to the party. Extremely rich in texture. Tannins and acid...it’s all there. Loooong finish. Modern?? Don’t know much about this producer but obviously high quality. Big wine. — 8 years ago

David McNally

9.4

Fields upon fields of lavender, bing cherries and mud puddle. Delicious. Maybe being in Venice helps? — 8 years ago