Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Unreal old school Nebbiolo nose. Chestnut, dried leaves, desiccated mid season cherry skins, sour early season cherry and some tar. Only just open and usually needs 3 hours but forward aromatically for a young Valgella. Charcoal and burning embers. Such a wine of place. Unreal concentration and density. Juicy and forward for a young Valgella. Dense and thick but so fresh. Damp leaves, soil tones and tremendous lift. Ripe but substantial tannins. Grape and old chestnut. But really fans out on the finish. Great stuff!! — 14 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Amazingly tight for a 16-year old wine. The acids are smell-able on the nose, zinging along tart, macerated wild cherry fruit and glacier-crushed rock fragments. (OK, maybe I’m making up the part about how the crushed rocks were created.) In the mouth it’s deep but the acids rip this along on the palate like a whitewater canoe ride. Really really unique and good. — 2 months ago

with Angelo

Fabio Franchella

9.2

Leichtfüssige, präzise, etwas komplexe hellrote frucht. Gewürze, zedernholz, leicht lakritz - einfach schön — 2 months ago

Rand Bass

9.3

Simply smooth and deliciously refreshing on the palate. — 16 days ago

with Debra

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.3

Chiavennasca (alias nebbiolo) of great elegance
Light and super easy
So so pretty
Long and...you just need more — 2 months ago

Brian S

9.3

Beautiful — 2 months ago

Vanessa

9.4

This is the 2013 Ar.Pe.Pe Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva ‘Nuova Regina’. It’s 100% Chiavennasca and aged 39 months in cask.

It is PALE ruby in color with pronounced aromas and flavors of red and black cherry, bright raspberry, mulberry, pomegranate, purple fig, stewed strawberry rhubarb, rose, potpourri, black licorice, black tea, anise seed, fennel, tri-colored peppercorns, peat, vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, forest floor, and mushroom.

On the palate, this wine is dry, w/ medium (+) acidity, a medium body, medium alcohol (13% ABV), & medium (+) tannins that are smooth and velveteen; it has a lingering finish.

It’s an outstanding wine, incredibly fresh now with runway to age & gain complexity in the bottle. — 3 months ago

with Deked1

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Quite light garnet , wide terracotta rim . Quite a lot of smoky sous bois, with some light red fruits, sweet dry spices , touch of hickory . On the palate this is pretty evolved and has started to dry out slightly , with some some sweet red currant , dried spices, salty acidity and resolved tannin . Ok , slate tinged finish . Drink now , and probably would have been better a few years ago . — 2 months ago

Zach D

9.4

When initially opened, it was tight and I was hit in the face with tannin and acidity; obviously too young, decanted 1.5 hours and opened with aromas of licorice, anise, dried red flowers, tar, red berries. Palate evolved over 2.5 hours. Licorice, dried strawberry, forest floor, cranberry; still high acidity and tannin. Excellent wine, and has that sweet fruit profile absent of any residual sugar, which is always fascinating to me; blows lots of 60 dollar Barolo and barbaresco out of the water; I would let rest until at least 2027, and at that point I would expect a stunner. @Lyle Fass — 2 months ago

J. B. Rainsberger

9.0

Tart cherry and perhaps strawberry. Some deeper notes, but not too strong. Light color. More fruit on the nose than in the mouth. — 2 months ago