Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2024 vintage. A bit more oomph than the usual V29 efforts but still has the sultry/sleek body notes as guardrails. Picked up 3 cases at an obscene price and will likely acquire mas. 5.6.26. — 2 months ago

Aravind A

9.2

WTF. This costs what now? Obscene. — 4 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.7

I was turned on to this by none other than @Greg Ballington !!! Any wine that he rates high must be a rockstar. This is definitely one of those bottles!!!
Huge dark fruit but not obscene. Integrated with oak in a well structured way. I believe @Shay A rated this highly as well.
I’m a believer! Well done gents! rockstar bottle! In the words of the one and only @David L .........I don’t like it........I love it!
@Shawn R 🎤 — 8 years ago

with Lexi and Christine

Robert McCall

9.2

Big, bold, and generous even in light of the challenging vintage. Offers up scents of dark/Blue fruit, violets, pepper. Coats the mouth with black currant, leather and spice. Everything’s nice. A bit of heat knocks it but only slightly and it’s not obscene. Good juice for sure. — 9 years ago

Perry Riddle

9.1

This wine delivers an almost obscene amount of pleasure for the money. The texture is gorgeous with a tensile juxtaposition to the weight of the Viognier. — 9 years ago

David Kline

9.0

Not s bad baby wine. Pointed and a little green, but working with some great soil notes, and bakers chocolate. Rich black soils and a real extracted plumminess, that makes this thing work like a nice Cahors, but simultaneously bring new world fruits, but not in obscene abundance. — 11 years ago

with Courtney

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2023 vintage. Courtesy of @Pinotman /// Andreas. 12.2% ABV. Light-medium body. Slight hint of initial sweetness before casting it off. Obscene amounts of stone fruit flavors on the finishing palate. Clean almost to a fault. Trace amount of petrol made a cameo appearance on the intro after 1.5 hours open. Nice bleep @Pinotman /// Andreas. Thank you again! — 3 months ago

with Pinotman

Aaron Tan

8.9

A unplanned Brunello study, courtesy of the boys! Despite being the lowest tiered among the wines of the night, I was drawn to the Valdicava Rosso the most. I was rooting for it essentially - tasting to see if what short time we had could have unravelled the tightly-knitted palate to match the sublime nose. Aromas of high-toned cherries and plums, cedar-spice, tobacco leaf, dried flowers and herbs, and a whiff of shiitake. It’s complex, yet I felt it offered poorer delineation than the Stella Brunello. In fact, all the other wines did too - a function of storage perhaps, or was the Stella just in a different league? Alas, the palate never caught up too. It started with nothing but drying tannins, and developed into a spicy-tannic character, eventually giving way to ripe red fruits and a really dusty-tannic finish. I can’t say that was all so enjoyable, but it certainly provides a compelling reason to age this Rosso.

"A misunderstood traditionalist" - at least that's what I gather from my research of Valdicava. The producer of the revered Madonna del Piano often gets lumped into the modernist category of Brunello due to the typically "obscene" concentrations in their wines, yet uses very traditional vinification techniques like elevage in large Slovenian oak. Can't really make any conclusions from this experience alone, but with all the information in hand, it's safe to say that these are very long-lived wines. — 4 years ago

LM Segal

9.8

The '13s weren't available but this may be the first perfect wine from here. Obscene power on the nose and palate, King Kong dancing a perfect Nutcracker. The elements of blackberry, dark chocolate and dark flowers, light compote all in perfect balance but not completely integrated. If I could afford it I'd sock away a few cases for 10++ years! — 9 years ago

Yoon Ha

Master Sommelier/Wine Director Benu

9.7

Uncommon balance and purity this vintage is known for. Nothing obscene nor hedonistic here. — 10 years ago

Fred Smith

9.7

I know, this is obscene. — 13 years ago

David Smisek

9.3

06/13/25 on vacation in Aljezur Portugal Enjoy at Airbnb. Got from class tasting and brought on vacation. Very tasty with chicken, pork, sausage dinner. — a year ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.2

“Blanc” de Noirs. Blend of Pinot Meunière & Noir. As always, crafted to deliver obscene amounts of pleasure. — 3 years ago

Jason Pace

9.5

This shit is obscene. Zesty lemon bomb with all kindsa honey. Love it, monster Sunday food wine — 5 years ago

Ron R

9.6

Full-on Napa strip tease, with all the assets on show. Jam compote, coffee and maple syrup. So extravagant, it’s obscene. As @Carl Fischer described it, “an embarrassment of riches.”
Gifted by @Carl Fischer. Thank you kind sir. — 8 years ago

with Eric, Mo and 3 others

Veronica Castro

9.1

Obscene minerality. Bordered by fruit I can best describe as grapefruit pith... lemon notes, and a Chenin-like texture. I love it. 2015 vintage. Thank you, @Lyle Fass for the first heads up on this producer. Always on the cutting edge.⚡️⚡️⚡️ — 9 years ago

Damon Kornhauser

9.5

Reminds me of the afternoons spent foraging for porcini in the shadow of the great Cyclopian volcano, but baked in the scorching Sicilian sun. Stewed strawberry, sweet damp forest, a zephyr of sulfury volcanic breeze and a surprising, almost cab franc memory of roasted sweet pepper. Tannins that grab your inner thigh enough to rouse your attention but recede so as to not be obscene or distracting. Good bloody juice. — 11 years ago