"Savory on the nose, with hints of smoke and forest floor, this transitions on the palate to display a silky range of pureed raspberry and fig accents and floral, herb and mocha notes. Offers sculpted, well-knit tannins, which emerge to firm the long, spiced finish."

"Delicate and floral on the nose, this bursts on the palate with its expressive notes of pink grapefruit granita, fleur de sel, ripe yellow pear, anise and chopped Marcona almond. Long and creamy on the minerally finish."

"Lemony and crisp with a stone and seashell undertone to the pretty fruit. Medium body, firm phenolics that tighten the wine on the palate. Racy and intense on the finish."

"Cooked apple and lemon curd with hints of pie crust and sweet biscuit. Some kiwi undertones. Medium-bodied with creamy texture and a flavorful finish."

"Aromas and flavors of sliced apples, lemon curd and hints of stone. Oyster shell. Lime undertones. It’s medium-bodied. Firm and fine phenolics. Tension and focus. Impressive for the vintage."

"Sliced apple, apple, sea shell and crushed stone aromas follow through to a full body yet it’s tight and structured with an impressive fruit, acidic and phenolic balance giving it focus and intensity."

'"The 2020 Darmagi is one of the most refined editions of this wine I can remember tasting. Silky, aromatic and light on its feet, the 2020 is all class, all elegance. The 2020 will need time to develop its aromatic and flavor complexity, but the balance is there. I have never been the biggest fan of the Gaja Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an exceptional wine by any measure. Sadly, the vineyard faces some challenges at this point in time."

'"A wine of stature and breeding, the 2019 Barolo Sperss is pure Serralunga power. Dark toned fruit, lavender, licorice, gravel and crushed rocks soar from the glass. There is plenty of the brooding intensity and tannic heft that are such signatures, but the 2019 is also wonderfully refined."

"The 2020 Barbaresco Sorì Tildin is a powerful, deep wine. Dark fruit, leather, spice, tobacco and incense saturate the palate. A Barbaresco of stature and brooding intensity, Sorì Tildin will need a number of years to be at its very best. The 2020 is an unusually somber, dark Sorì Tildin."

"The 2020 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is ample and potent, with tons of mid-palate intensity and palate-staining resonance. Black cherry, plum, new leather, licorice, gravel and dried herbs abound. As is so often the case, Sorì San Lorenzo is the most inward."

"The 2020 Barbaresco Sorì Tildin is a powerful, deep wine. Dark fruit, leather, spice, tobacco and incense saturate the palate. A Barbaresco of stature and brooding intensity, Sorì Tildin will need a number of years to be at its very best. The 2020 is an unusually somber, dark Sorì Tildin."

"The 2020 Barbaresco Costa Russi is a classy, polished wine. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, new leather, licorice and lavender all take shape. As always, Costa Russi is the most supple and charming of the Gaja Barbarescos in the early going."

"The 2020 Barbaresco is a very young wine. In most years, the Gaja Barbaresco is quite showy, but the 2020 clearly needs time. There's terrific fruit intensity, but the aromatics aren't quite expressive. These days the Gaja wines have less oak imprint, which pushes the fruit forward, but also yields a wine that is a bit more austere in the early going."

"The 2021 Alteni di Brassica is a gorgeous, steely white endowed with tons of varietal character. This is the first vintage that includes fruit from the Gaja family's new vineyards in Alta Langa. Lemon peel, sage, mint, dried herbs, chamomile and a touch of tropical fruit linger on the bright, saline finish."

"The 2022 Chardonnay Estate is calm, its shoulders are down and its almost succulent in its personality as it makes it debut in your mouth. The acidity is gentle, particularly when compared with the nervosity of 2021. There's a fine textural character that could well be tannin that keeps this giving and leaves you licking your lips. Flavors of nectarine, clove and vanilla-like oak notes make for a rather festive finish (20% new oak). The nectarine-infused length persists making this one that'll slip down easily over the next 3-5 years at the very least."

"The 2022 Chardonnay Rays Road is restrained and reticent. It's certainly not a fruit bomb of a Hawke's Bay Chardonnay with its pithy precision, slightly salty, flinty character and buzz of nervous acid tension. Rays Road is generally less opulent than most, and the austerity seems to be a character of the site, particularly from the first few vintages. Nevertheless, full malo and 11 months on lees adds texture and padding to the mid-palate. Pear, honeysuckle and melon fruit ally with subtle spiced cedar, which nods to the older French barrels used for fermentation on the medium-long finish."

"The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay has breadth and depth. Its rounded and shapely curves seem to shimmy as if it was comfortably settling onto a bean bag, finding its place. Honeysuckle, pear and melon meet spiced oak. The concluding texture is well considered and cleverly done with tension. The new oak (25%) provides a corset for the wine to sit within and tightens it up, as if the wine is held by a pair of control pants."

"The 2022 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay offers tension, power and an unrelenting sense of moving forward as if your palate has been put on a travelator. Currently it's closed and young with little aromatic generosity. There's nevertheless purity and a real sense of density. The richness is there but it's held within a brace of tension, ensuring precision and focus."

"The 2022 Chardonnay Hunting Hill is an impressive, focused style. It has a sense of energy, being almost buoyant with the movement of a skimming stone across your palate. There's a powerful core of fruit here and it has plenty of substance within its no-more-than medium-bodied core before kerpow! It fires home with an almost spicy kick. Clever oak use, reminiscent of toasted nuts, meets restrained flavors of lemon and lime bitter and nectarine fruit. A wine that's still in its cocoon so give it time. It may even have the edge of Maté's... Big call."

'"The 2020 Chenin Blanc is rich, full and concentrated with very ripe flavors of peach and tropical-like fruit including mango meeting well-integrated vanilla and oak-derived flavors. The wine's fullness and supple texture as well as rounded shoulders have been shaped by fermentation in barrel as well as 12 months resting on lees. But it isn't blowsy, while maintaining focus. There is a little niggle in that the alcohol (14.5%) gives a warming sensation, somewhat kicking out the balance and clipping the finish, otherwise the score would be higher. An ambitious, carefully made wine"