Eric Hiatt

9.3

Balsamic, tomato — 8 years ago

with Doris

Ben Lehman

9.2

Great texture and juiciness with just enough seriousness. Herbs, spice, tomato. — 9 years ago

Joe Laratta

9.2

Went very well with my pasta and tomato sauce with Italian sausage — 9 years ago

Jinglin Zhang

9.2

100 Sangiovese soar cherry tea leaves tomato leaves clove wild rose ... This s a cool and vibrant brunello as Sangiovese as it could be — 10 years ago

Nate Morrell

9.1

The tannins of this '89 were totally resolved and this bottle was quite open, unlike more recent vintages I've tried. Soft cherry, ripe tomato, mushroom, earth, and faint dried herbs. — 10 years ago

Sergio Licea

9.3

Plum, black cherries, pencil shavings, thyme, dry tobacco leaf, graphite, sun dried tomato, slight truffle. Medium acid/dusty tannin balance, full bodied, long dry herbal/wood chips finish. Needed 15 minutes to open up. — 10 years ago

Elizabeth Kinney

9.0

Black Cherry. Some Earthy on nose. Fruit upfront. Nice acidity in finish. Nicely paired with seafood tomato stew. — 11 years ago

Zhiran Wang

9.3

Still vibrant nose. Sour fruit, mocha, raspberry chocolate. Lower acidity than 2001 grand reserva but more expressive. Pair with pasta, chicken with tomato basil sauce — 11 years ago

Narun P

9.1

100% Sangiovese
Bricked, orangey red. Still concentrated and opaque. Compact rim. Youthful looking despite its 19 years of age.

The bouquet is the most enticing part of this wine. Grilled sun-dried tomato, slightly stewed fruits but not at all unpleasant, dried prune, mocha, with a hint of animalistic undertone. I can literally smell the aromas all day.

Presence of substantial tannin but integrated, medium high acidity, dry. Sour cherry, red cherry, blackcurrant. Gunpowder. Antique leather. Great mineral character. Finish with a trace of cedar, and spicy new oak.

Absolutely no reason to wait, although it has just approached the peak drinkability and thus can last another solid decade. Paired with Joe's pizza, the best NYC has to offer! 91. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Dark & light sweet & sour cherries, strawberry hues, dark raspberries, silky limestone minerals, chalky on tongue. It's smooth elegant but simple. However, it did pair well with the spicy tomato sauce with sausage over linguini. — 9 years ago

Doctor No

9.1

Very Chinon. Pyrazine heavy with red pepper coulis and stewed tomato. A bit of tart red fruit still poking through the tobacco leaves. Didn't have the right food for this. — 10 years ago

with Doug, Art and 3 others

Justin Mahoney

9.1

Definitely better than the Crawford namesake. A little more acidity but still classic Marlborough tropical fruit, without being overdone like the big name brand. Delicious tonight w oysters and then grilled calamari with a olive and sundried tomato tapenade on a bed of grilled asparagus — 10 years ago

Noble Cloche

9.2

My favorite - and go-to - Chianti. Brilliant, expressive fruit with enough acidity to stand up to any tomato based sauce. If anyone knows where this may be available in Maryland, please let me know. I've only been able to find it in New York - and Italy. — 11 years ago

Christoph Raffelt

Blogger www.originalverkorkt.de/, Copywriter Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor (Importer)

9.5

Nice flavour composition of wood, leather, spices, earth, sappy, cool, something tomato essence, cassis, bacon, green pepper, complexity, length and character, beautiful, beautiful — 12 years ago

Raj Harb

9.3

2012, very enjoyable if very young. Dark inky purple. Black olive tapenade, tomato, and beefy iron. Will try to wait a few year to have another — 9 years ago

Chris McClellan

9.0

Cherry/strawberry, dried in character, great tannin and acid, tannins smooth. Tomato leaf and slight balsamic..I thought it was great. — 9 years ago

with Ryan and Deb

Jeroen Koenen

9.6

Deep black core, ruby mid section, starting to show some autumnal browning in the edges.
First sniff is a little murky, soupy. But this blows away after aeration and then a very quiet, sophisticated, graceful bouquet is revealed, hinting at cigars, black olive, sundried tomato, spicebox, fatty Ibericoham, black cherries and plumpudding. Terrific concentration on the palate! Silky soft and smooooth, cinnamon, milk chocolate, leather, discrete notes of oak and garden herbs all coalesce into the very long, echoing finish. Did I already mention this has sheer perfect acidity? An androgynous wine, masculine and feminine at the same time. A home run in this so-so vintage. — 9 years ago

Joe Paradise

9.1

One of, if not my favorite, rioja producers. Fruit on the 03 is a bit crisper than other vintages. Cranberry, tomato (leaf?), deftly deliberate oxidation, earth and savory balsamic, all framed in lovely oak. Fine integrated tannin. Long savory finish — 10 years ago

Katie Winter

9.0

I had this with Rigatoni all'Amatricia and it went very well with the spicy tomato sauce. Bright and fruity, but not a fruit bomb- much more balanced. Definitely minerals and and earthy overtone. Smelled amazing. Was also a very good sipper throughout the day - not super acidic but still good with food. A crowd pleaser, I think. #etna #rosso #nerellomascalese #italia #sicilia #dogsofdelectable — 11 years ago

Madeline Puckette

9.0

look: pale ruby red core with slightly garnet rim.  medium viscosity.

smell: medium intensity aromas of roasted red bell pepper, allepo pepper flake, raspberry sauce, roasted jalapeno.  overall, sweet and ripe fruit smells followed by slight iron-like gravel note.

taste: medium + acidity, nearly high acidity, medium - tannin, flavors of smoked tomato, sour cherry, ending with a note of sweet dried/roasted pepper.  

profile: flavor is 'bursty' and drops out quickly and then hangs in a very subtle low way on the palate.  
purchased with Somm Select. honestly, it could have cellared a few more years. — 11 years ago