Puncheon

A 500L barrel typically made from oak. Oak sources include French, Russian and American Oak.

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A 500L barrel typically made from oak. Oak sources include French, Russian and American Oak. Check out our Q&A with Paul: “How does the percentage of new oak affect wine?” for more on oak.

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The Bold!

Giovanni Sordo Barolo ‘Gabutti’ MAGNUM 2016

Nebbiolo | Serralunga d'Alba, Italy

Ooh. Wow. So dense in aromatics that it’s hard to label them! Wait. Simply fabulous and the star of this first tasting. Insanely good, incredibly complete. Benchmark stuff.  Such a fragrance! This is mind boggling. Wonderful flow length+++. The sophistication of tannins here is insane. Here we see an incredibly complete wine. Such sophistication and power. There’s an elegance and lithe nature to this incredibly powerful beauty. The flowers are intoxicating. Again length +++. The sophisticat
$298
$288ea in any 3+
$278ea in any 6+
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Divine Wine!
One of the sneaky 1er Cru Gevrey's to watch out for! The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, dark chocolate, spices and vanilla pod. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's elegantly muscular, with a deep and multidimensional core and a long, expansive finish. It's worth a special effort to seek out. William Kelley, The Wine Advocate 93-95+ BH 91-94
$410
$395ea in any 3+
$380ea in any 6+
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Well I couldn't find a review of this and haven't had a chance to taste it. Given the other 9 wines from 2016 and 2017 I've tried it's hard to see this being anything but true to form and simply put a 2017 version of the 2016! My Note on the 2016: Opens with juicy crunchy fruit that takes just a little while to settle in. More immediately overt than the others. There’s a build in tannin here that when you relate it back to the vineyard location near Rugien and listen to Anne Parents
$275
$265ea in any 3+
$255ea in any 6+
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KO 98 AG 93
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo is quite deep in this vintage, with notable depth in its dark-toned fruit. This is an especially powerful Rio Sordo that is still coming together. Its intensity is palpable, even if I see less of the finesse that I associate with wines from this site. Today, all of the wine's energy is directed inwards. Antonio Galloni, Vinous 93 Points KO 98 *NOTE Galloni tasted in Sept 2023 noting his intent to look at the PdB Riservas in 12 months expecting they
$209
$199ea in any 3+
$189ea in any 6+
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