2004 Italy

Possibly the best ever vintage for Flaccianello, this is bursting with ripe black cherry fruit but has all the depth and complexity we have come to expect from this exceptional vineyard in Panzano. Full-bodied and long, this is very attractive now, but will offer much more once it is mature. Keep until around 2015 to see it at its best.

Maraschino cherries and the skins of ripe, red apples are rounded out by the classic notes of tar expected in a Barolo of this quality. This wine is showing a lot of youth today, but the tannins are perfectly ripe giving promise of good maturation for a decade and more. Sinewy, deep and intensely flavoured with notes of cranberry, some floral touches give the finish real complexity. Don’t wake until 2015 at the very earliest.
(Rob Whitehead – London Shop Sales)

From the Brunate vineyard lower down the La Morra slopes towards Cannubi Boschis, this is a fuller, denser Barolo expression, traditionally made in cement and old slavonian botte, complete with sandalwood notes on the nose. On the palate, the twenty year old vines show their pedigree with rounder, suppler, if no-less impressive tannins, balanced by some broad black savoury fruit.
(David Berry Green)

Following up their particularly successful 2003s, Mauro and his son Giuseppe Mascarello have produced a dazzling 2004 Santo Stefano di Perno, a brilliant single-vineyard wine from the iron-rich sandstone and marl soils of Monforte d'Alba. Ribes leaf and sage-scented notes enthral the nose while the palate rings with lift and finesse. Wow!
David Berry Green, Fine Wine Buyer

This is a deep-seated and mesmerising wine whose silky balsamic flavours are harmoniously entwined. Zenos hands on approach both in the vineyard and cellar provide a wonderful freshness too, without being overbearing in alcohol.
David Berry Green, August 2011

Lightish crimson. Very flattering on the nose. Rich and aromatic, with a hint of black fruits. Firm on the palate. This should have a good future. Long. 
Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com

How great to be able to offer you a 10-year-old Taurasi, that’s ready to drink but will grow further in bottle if required. From a classic vintage, aged for 20 months in barrique, yielding only 5,000 bottles, the nose is rich with blackcurrant, kirsch, intensity and crunch. With gorgeous liquorice fruit characters, this is emphatic, structured, yet mellowing, with autumn bramble fruit; the finish scintillating with red cassis acidity.
David Berry Green

To many Maria-Teresa's Barolo represents the model of great, traditionally-made Barolo; Compared to the 2003, there's a darker hue and fuller, darker, more sensual expression of mulberry like fruit, pepped up by definite kirsch highlights on the nose. The palate is a staggering display of restraint, tiny red berried fruit, the silkiest of tannic structures, compact yet at the same time so serene. What a joy to behold.. Best drunk from 2014.
(David Berry Green )

Almost opaque and still very youthful looking, the nose is still dense and underdeveloped, but gives hints of the greatness to come, with its brooding dark cherry fruit.

The only word to describe this Brunello  wine on the palate is massive; full bodied and spicy, packed with black and red cherry fruit, all tightly wound in a magnificent structure, fine tannins, mouth watering acidity and supporting alcohol, all in perfect balance. This is a monumental wine for the Cellar and will be magnificent in 2012-2014 and drink for a decade or two after that. A serious candidate for the best Ugolaia ever.
(Chris Pollington, Fine Wine Department)

The Chambolle-Musigny of Barolo, the village of Castiglione Falletto, blessed with calcareous soils and a warm microclimate, consistently produces some of the most velvety Baroli. None more so than Mauro and Giuseppe Mascarello's Monprivato vineyard: a perfectly exposed limestone sunbed giving the ripest, sweetest, headiest red fruit which will emerge one day into a thing of immense beauty.
David Berry Green, Fine Wine Buyer

Youthful colour, mint oil and truffle on the nose with dark cherry fruit. Palate has the characteristic gloss that you expect from Voerzio with the succulent but structured tannic grip and fresh acidity reigning it in beautifully. There are notes of black tea and a sauvage character that adds interest and length to the palate.
Matthew Tipping - Private Account Manager

The 2004 Barolo Le Vigne is one of the darkest, most intense Le Vignes I can remember tasting. In this vintage, the fruit is especially somber, the legacy of the late harvest season. Black cherries, plums, cinnamon, flowers, mint and leather meld together in a sumptuous, exceptionally polished Le Vigne that will continue to drink well for many years. Le Vigne is often slow to get out of the gate, which appears to be the case with the 2004 as well. 96/100
Antoni Galloni - Vinous - May 2015

The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Paganelli emerges from the glass with masses of scorched earth, leather, tar, licorice, menthol and dark fruit. The Riserva shows a touch more inner sweetness, richness and depth in its fruit than the regular bottling, plus a bit more French oak as well. For now, the Riserva is quite reticent and requires air, but with time its awesome richness and power come through in spades.

This dark, brooding and authoritative Riserva from Il Poggione is simply gorgeous. Readers who don’t want to pay the premium for the Riserva in 2004 need not worry; I tasted the 2004 regular bottling (twice!) while preparing this article and it is every bit as promising as my review last year suggested. In 2004 the Paganelli vineyard was harvested on the 13th of October, quite late for this estate.

Father and son team Fabrizio and Alessandro Bindocci are on a roll. Il Poggione remains a benchmark property for fine, traditionally made Brunellos capable of ageing exquisitely. I can’t think of too many properties in the world producing wines of this level at these prices with an established track record going back 40+ years. I tasted an extraordinary range of wines at the estate in January 2010, including all of the Brunellos and Riservas in cask from vintages 2005-2009.
Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate#188 - Apr 2010