Ripley Italians
Winemakers Club, Farringdon
Tasted Tuesday, April 28, 2026 by Joshvoulters with 27 views
Introduction
I love Ripley Wines but I'll be sticking with the German and French selections...
Winemakers Club, Farringdon
Tasted Tuesday, April 28, 2026 by Joshvoulters with 27 views
I love Ripley Wines but I'll be sticking with the German and French selections...
2020 Campi Nuovi Montecucco Sangiovese 87 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montecucco
Full-bore Sangiovese in a southern style; rich, bloody, animal. Dark red and black pulpy fruit, earth, rose. Energetic, driven. Maybe simple on palate – spherical dark fruit, raspy wave of tannin, lacks direction. Relieved I didn't buy a case of this on the back of the description before trying- just a bit much
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2019 Campi Nuovi Sangiovese Montecucco Riserva 83 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montecucco
Broadly similar to normale. Letting it all hang out, throaty and full-on nose: more of a prune character here. Some of the energy seems stripped by élevage. Don’t like the palate at all: tangy sour topnote, directionless pulpy body, unfocused waves of blocky tannin. Quite bad.
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2022 Cascina Castella di Cassino Silvio Barbera d'Alba Superiore 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba Superiore
Some reduction, spicy plum, earth, cough lozenge. Purple sweet-savoury fruit, amaro edge. Moderate framing structure.
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2018 Fratelli Alessandria Barolo Gramolere 86 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Quite roasted, hints of raisin. Aromatic profile flattened by heat. Plodding, too much structure for the fruit already.
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2019 Fratelli Alessandria Barolo Gramolere
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Herbal, lifted, raspy; not that charming. Something slightly chemical with a note of ozone. Palate a touch dilute. Maybe this simply needs a decade but I'm not seeing the potential. Foregoing a rating because the reviews are really consistent and don't relate to the bottle I tried - so maybe this one was out of condition (albeit it was at an importer's tasting so one would expect a representative sample).
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2018 Gigi Bianco Barbera d'Alba Superiore 87 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba Superiore
Quite roasted, hints of raisin. Aromatic profile flattened out by heat it seems. Plodding, with too much structure.
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2014 Gigi Bianco Barbaresco Ovello 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Shy, restrained at first - thyme and raspberry, strawberry, a hint of dried rose. Nice red fruit concentration and balance on palate – right in the zone with melted tannins and silky texture. Would be a really nice midweek drinker if it weren't for the price
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2009 Gigi Bianco Barbaresco Pora 83 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Super raisined, prune, dark plum. Melted tannins, silky body and zero typicity or character.
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2019 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Santo Stefano di Perno 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Cherry, cinnamon, Biscoff, pure, distinctive sweet herbal nose. Palate tied up by youthful structure – blue fruit, concentrated and persistent.
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2020 La Sala del Torriano Campo All'Albero Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 83 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT
Really not good this year. Roasted and raisined, sweet and pulpy on the palate – already running out of puff. Very up and down - the '18 is great.
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2019 La Sala del Torriano Chianti Classico Riserva 87 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
Herbs, ripe cherry, spice: a driven, raspy nose. The palate is unremarkable - lots of tannin, generally unmemorable.
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2023 Bartolo Mascarello Barbera d'Alba 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Blackberry, dark cherry – a sense of focused energy, violet. Saturated dark fruit with a ferrous tang on the palate – drops off quite fast despite the concentration.
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2022 Bruna Grimaldi Nebbiolo d'Alba Bonurei 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Nebbiolo d'Alba
Pure, quite delicate on nose, lithe, floral, sweetly fruited. Mid-weight red and purple fruit palate – food-friendly structure, persistent grip. Satisfying.
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2019 Bruna Grimaldi Barolo Bricco Ambrogio 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tar, eucalyptus, dark fruit – but remains light on its feet, tense and lifted. Young, structured.
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2019 Bruna Grimaldi Barolo Badarina Serralunga d'Alba
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
So young as to be impenetrable - coiled and inward, structured
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2017 Fratelli Serio and Battista Borgogno Barolo Novello 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Nose in a good spot; strawberry, rose, seaweed, baking spice, white pepper. Quite giving and expressive. An underlying hardness to the palate – tannin still plentiful, powdery.
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2022 Fratelli Serio and Battista Borgogno Langhe Nebbiolo 87 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Juicy, fruity, typical. Really quite structured; probably too much for this style and flavour profile.
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2024 Azienda Vitivinicola Vella Caravella 86 Points
Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
Slightly reduced – fresh butter, confit lemon. A lovely expressive nose.
Oyster shells, a bit lean on the palate with an unusual stale bread note lingering on finish.
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2024 Azienda Vitivinicola Vella Platanì 84 Points
Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
Super aromatic – closer to Gewürz than any Grillo I’ve tried. Lychee, mandarin, zesty peach – really 3D fruit with a hint of seawater. Very fruity on the palate – no persistence and a salty impression balancing quite vivid fruit. Not for me.
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