Calvados, White, Red, Friulano

The 2016 Valpolicella Superiore is intense, with a captivating bouquet that blends cedar shavings, savory herbs and balsamic spices with rum-soaked cherries, sweet lavender and dark chocolate. This sweeps across the palate with silken textures, delivering masses of tart red and black fruits along with hints of espresso bean. Crunchy mineral tones and zesty acidity add dramatic lift. The 2016 tapers off long and staining, sporting a pleasantly bitter tinge of cocoa as grippy tannins resonate. The 2016 is a well-muscled dancer yet still youthfully coiled. (95) ERIC GUIDO

Dense garnet color, full of polished aromas of balsamic, cedar wood, earthy minerality, licorice, leather, restrained bramble fruit and coffee grounds. Dry, full-bodied and velvety on the palate, with lifted acidity and an austere finish. Long, slightly chocolatey aftertaste. (96) JAMES SUCKLING

The new release for 2024, 2016 is a much anticipated vintage from Dal Forno given that the 2017 was released first. But it has needed the extra time in bottle: export manager Marco Pinna explained that production volumes in 2016 were compromised by hailstorms in 2015. This had the result of naturally reducing yields and lending even more concentration than usual to the wine. Darker and richer in aroma compared to the 2017 Valpolicella, it clings on to a nutty, reductive character, with wisps of mint and fenugreek. In the mouth it's fleshy and powerful; less vertical than the 2017. There's a slightly meaty touch to the ripe, concentrated red and black berries, lifted by floral notes of iris and violets as well as crushed rock and exotic spices. Voluptuous black cherry emerges towards the end, but this still feels quite tight and closed; the best is yet to come. (97) DECANTER

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Regarded as one of the premier producers in Jurançon, Clos Joliette was founded in 1929, when the Migne family cleared forest in a natural southeast-facing amphitheater to plant a hectare of vines.
The result has been an incredible selection of complex and aromatic off-dry wines, reflecting the reputation Antoine Gerbelle bestowed on the domaine as “the Romanee Conti of the South-West France”.

What makes these wines so sought after is the combination of three unique aspects. First, its location. With only 1.85 hectares Clos Joliette sits at 300m altitude, on the slopes of the hill of Beauvallon (Commune of Jurancon). The vines were planted in 1929 by Madame Migné and exposed to the East and South-East in a natural amphitheater, allowing the grapes to capture the gentle morning sun, rather than afternoon heat.

Second, an atypical terroir made of clay-silica, pudding stones, Ponto-Pliocene pebbles and crossed through by a vein of iron.

Third, the wine itself - a single varietal 100% Petit Manseng, treated with minimal intervention throughout vinification, no fining or filtration, and long aging in oak barrels for 4 to 6 years.

Regarded as one of the premier producers in Jurançon, Clos Joliette was founded in 1929, when the Migne family cleared forest in a natural southeast-facing amphitheater to plant a hectare of vines.
The result has been an incredible selection of complex and aromatic off-dry wines, reflecting the reputation Antoine Gerbelle bestowed on the domaine as “the Romanee Conti of the South-West France”.

What makes these wines so sought after is the combination of three unique aspects. First, its location. With only 1.85 hectares Clos Joliette sits at 300m altitude, on the slopes of the hill of Beauvallon (Commune of Jurancon). The vines were planted in 1929 by Madame Migné and exposed to the East and South-East in a natural amphitheater, allowing the grapes to capture the gentle morning sun, rather than afternoon heat.

Second, an atypical terroir made of clay-silica, pudding stones, Ponto-Pliocene pebbles and crossed through by a vein of iron.

Third, the wine itself - a single varietal 100% Petit Manseng, treated with minimal intervention throughout vinification, no fining or filtration, and long aging in oak barrels for 4 to 6 years.

The 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella is a sleeping giant, darkly alluring with dried violets, dusty black currants, shaved cedar and lifting hints of mint. This is sleek and cool-toned in feel-lifted yet intense and savory to the core, with masses of mineral-tinged dark red fruits and balsamic tones carried across a core of zesty acidity. The 2016 finishes tannic and long, clamping down hard on the palate and leaving a bitter primary concentration that lingers on and on. This is just a baby today and in need of serious cellaring, yet the potential is off the charts. Marco Dal Forno explains that he considered selling the 2018 before the 2016 to allow it to come fully into focus, which he already did with the 2017. (98) ERIC GUIDO

Inky in the glass with almost no rim. Aromas of cloves, coconut, graphite, dark lush bramble fruit, plums and cherries. Full-bodied with great concentration of fruit and a super-dense and velvety palate. Extremely rich, but balanced by crisp acidity and thick yet dynamic and chewy tannins. Amazing finish of salted chocolate. A superpower Amarone with grace. Try from 2026. Will age for decades. (98) JAMES SUCKLING

Released after the 2017 vintage, because it was decided that this dense, concentrated vintage would benefit from more time in the bottle, the 2016 is fuller and broader in the shoulders compared to the 2017 Amarone. There's more of everything - body, concentration, tannic presence, richness, spiciness...And while there's a reductive note of petrichor, its aromatics still soar, carrying wafts of wild black fruits and balsam out of the glass. Enticing already, its future looks very bright indeed. (98) DECANTER