The Real Review's #1 Barolo for 2019.

Garnet, just fading at the edges. There is an arresting bouquet of redcurrant and damson plum, a gentle waft of exotic spice, as well as liquorice, mint and other dried herbs, all in concerto. To taste, the wine offers an excellent concentration of flavour, initially vibrant yet elegant in fruit succulence before spice and savoury notes kick in, beautifully supple tannins interwoven with tangy orange peel acidity, all flowing to an extraordinarily long finish. A glorious wine of depth, intensity and balance. (The story goes that estate owner Luigi Scavino waited 30 years before he felt that the vines in his Cerretta plot were old enough for the wine to be bottled as an individual cru.) 98pts. Drink 2023-2053. Stephen Blandford for The Real Review

Cerretta is one of my favorite sites in Serralunga d'Alba because it consists of vines wrapped around a hilltop with various exposures. For that reason, Cerretta wines can vary widely from producer to producer. The Azelia 2019 Barolo Cerretta has dark fruit and spice, but the bouquet is mostly colored by flinty mineral tones, smoke and pencil shaving. It offers terrific balance and also manages some softly perfumed notes of violet and blue flower that you don't get in the other wines. It sees 50 days of extended maceration and 30 months of aging in large oak casks. This is a very limited production of 3,200 bottles. 96 points - Monica Larner for The Wine Advocate