Freddy R. Troya

9.5

Gianfranco Alessandria – Barolo 2020
Piedmont – Italy 🇮🇹

Overview
Made from 100% Nebbiolo, this Barolo captures the essence of Piedmont’s most noble grape. The 2020 vintage is still youthful, showing its classic austerity and perfume while beginning the long climb toward its prime. (Educational note: Nebbiolo is famous for combining delicate floral aromatics with firm tannins and vibrant acidity, giving Barolo its legendary aging potential.)

Aromas & Flavors
Roses and violets open gracefully, followed by tart red cherry, cranberry, and dried strawberry. Nuances of anise, tar, and subtle spice emerge with air, promising further complexity as the wine matures.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied but firmly structured, with gripping tannins and racing acidity. The tart fruit and floral notes ride on a backbone of minerality, finishing long and tightly wound — signaling a wine built for age.

Food Pairings
Perfect with rich northern Italian cuisine: truffle risotto, braised beef (Brasato al Barolo), or wild mushroom tagliatelle. Also shines with aged Parmigiano Reggiano.

Verdict
A beautiful, youthful Barolo — tart, floral, and nervy, with cherry fruit and soaring acidity. Still climbing toward its peak, but already showing elegance and grace. A wine for patient cellaring, yet utterly captivating today. 🍷

Did You Know?
Barolo is often called “the king of wines and the wine of kings.” Its Nebbiolo grape name comes from nebbia (fog), referencing the autumn mists that blanket Piedmont’s vineyards during harvest.

Hidden Gem 💎
Gianfranco Alessandria is a boutique Barolo producer, crafting expressive, terroir-driven wines that fly under the radar compared to larger names — a true gem for collectors and explorers. — 9 months ago

Matt

9.2

Loved this over several nights, exuberant and exotic with zip and phenolics to hold everything up. Apricot, pineapple, racing citrus notes, mushrooms, candied ginger, saffron, white tea, herbs. — 5 years ago

Matt

9.3

What a lovely wine. It has definition and nerve that balances out its impressive breadth, especially given the racing acid across all parts of the mouth. Lemon pith, tart apple, crushed chalk, hazelnut, Emmentaler rind, salted ham, hay. There’s a kiss of something aldehydic in there, but I like the complexity it brings. This has gained some nice development. 100 CH 4/2017 disgorgement — 6 years ago

romo

9.4

06 in the north still firing. The runaway winner of eight blind Rhônes. — 7 years ago

Mark Oldman

9.2

‪ravishing rosé ✨ alert: I included this $13 ‘17 #LaSpinetta Il Rose di Casanova in an event I did in Westchester last night, and true to its name, it sent hearts racing ❤️ . Refreshing but uncommonly flavorful (cherry, peach, maybe some orange peel), with zippy tang and a long, lovely finish. Bonus: the label features the majestic rhinoceros 🦏 etched by genius artist Albrecht Dürer in the sixteenth century. If I had a summer house, this #wine would be stocked like soda. 🥤 ‬
‪#rose #rosato #rosado #rosewine ‬

— 8 years ago

Beau Carson

9.0

The best Chablis for the price. $20 and you get all the complexity you could want in a village level wine. Lemon peel, racing mineralty, tart green apple, and lively acidity. — 9 years ago

David Kline

10

Green gold glinting diamond. Cap smoke, toasted sesame, wildflower honey crystallized, snap pea, chive, lime racing around lemon and zesty crystal droplets stratifying aromatically. Incredible lime zest and essence over lemon verbena, lemon pastry puff, and carnation petal. Amazing in every way.


#pycm #pierreyvescolinmorey #corton #cortoncharlemagne #burgundy #bourgogne #bourgogneblanc #grandcru — a year ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Jamie Slone Wines is a small producer of some fine wines from Santa Barbara County. P1 (a racing term), is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Syrah, aged for 30 months in new and neutral French Oak. Aromas of lively fruit, spice and cedar notes. On the palate fresh fruit flavors cherry and currants with some leather and cacao spice with underlying gentle sweetness. Well balanced, soft tannins, long ending with great mouthfeel. A winner, Tasting Sample. — 5 years ago

John Murphy

9.2

Nice body, racing acidity. — 5 years ago

B Williams

8.9

Enjoyable Pinot Noir. — 6 years ago

Grant Simpson

9.1

Stony mineralty with lemon lime fruit. Racing acidity — 7 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 1961 Brane-Cantenac is a wine that I have been lucky enough to taste three or four times before. It’s a wonderful 1961 that comes racing out of the blocks, displaying vestiges of red fruit, autumn leaves, mint, chlorophyll and blood orange on the nose. It just feels multifaceted and more complex than the 1959, even if it does not quite reveal the same vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and impressive concentration. It is maybe a little rustic in style but certainly shows more depth and concentration than the 1961 Rauzan-Sègla that I tasted a month earlier. There is a touch of Earl Grey and tobacco lingering on the finish. Maybe this is in gradual decline, since it does not match the stellar bottle tasted back in 2010, yet it remains a great Margaux. Tasted at the Brane-Cantenac vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, January 2019) — 7 years ago

Amanda Rehn

9.2

Racing....alive-lime zest matched w/ texturally relevant mineral/white Chinese pepper - food.... but intensely invigorating and titillating. Liebedich auch. — 9 years ago

Damian

9.9

Decanted in the glass for 30 minutes, with bottle open during that time and later. The best wine experience so far. I tried it before on a tasting and was not impressed. Brioche, toast, citrus, apple and racing acidity were still present in my mouth after 2 minutes of taking a sip. I prefer to drink it the way I described at the beginning vs straight from the bottle that was standing in ice. — 2 years ago

Shay A

9.4

For planning purposes of something in the future, I tasted 2014 central coast Syrahs from high end producers blind. Along with the Lillian (my bottle), there was SQN, Andremily, Torrin Akasha, Booker Fracture, Alban Reva and Alban Lorraine.

First off, I love these wines. The price in comparison to the others is impressive, and it always delivers. I double decanted this about two hours prior to the blind tasting. Dark purple in the glass, with aromatics of both sweet oak as well as whole cluster stem inclusion. Loads of dark floral notes, ripe blackberries, cherry jerky and that kiss of sweet oak. The palate remained the same from opening through the end of the blind tasting…a distinctly fuzzy profile on the palate with gorgeous mid palate depth and richness of blue and black fruits with plenty of herbal flair and spice. It toes the line between cool climate Syrah with their signature black peppercorn and iron, as well as big central coast Rhône style with its rich and textural palate. No rush on opening, but it sure is great now.

Out of the 7 in the lineup, this was the “cheapest”, and tied for 3rd place (with the Andremily being the runaway favorite, Alban Lorraine taking second, and this tying the SQN). — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.5

Palm frond, light olive essence, smoky-sweet petrol resonance over poppyseed pastry, rhubarb-wild strawberry cream, lemon custard, and palmyra. Lemon lime zippy while racing across the tongue, with grapefruit zest, lime zest and raspberry sizzle. Gorgeous and lean. Two palms up! #palmerandco #palmerandcochampagne #champagne #bubbles #Reims #àreims #brutchampagne #brutreserve — 6 years ago

"Odedi"

9.2

This is a delicious Sauvignon Blanc From Sancerre. Showing citrus, green apples, minerals and spices.

Medium bodied with racing acidity. Crisp and refreshing.

Dry on the palate with a nice finish.

Good by itself or with food. I paired it with lobster on the grill.

Great nose and palate. Very tasty.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points. — 7 years ago

Matt

9.0

BTG Compline, dusty, mushroom, dried flowers, dried herbs, nervy red fruit and racing acid. Love the tension this has given its extended elevage. — 7 years ago

Julia Smith

9.8

Fully bodied for a Champagne with rich pear notes and racing acidity. I'm obsessed! — 8 years ago

Seth Liebman

Wine Director/Sommelier

9.4

Racing acidity. Wonderful. — 9 years ago