Renato Ratti Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata 2018 (750ML)

97 JS / 96 WE / 95 WA / 94 WI / 94 DE

This is so wonderfully perfumed with tangerine and strawberry aromas that rise out of the glass in a spectacular way. The palate is full, yet so fine-textured, with super-polished tannins and a finish that goes on for minutes. A sublime Barolo. Try after 2025, but already a joy to taste.--James Suckling

This stunning, delicious red boasts enticing scents of camphor, rose petal, small red berry and spice while the delicious palate stuns with strawberry compote, baking spice and star anise. Smooth, silky tannins and fresh acidity keep it perfectly balanced. Drink 2024–2030. –Kerin O’Keefe, Wine Enthusiast

The Renato Ratti 2018 Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata (with 5,500 bottles produced) is the estate's headline wine with fruit from a special 1.5-hectare site with characteristic Tortoniano blue marl mixed with veins of sand. The wine is aged in a combination of new barrique and Slavonian oak casks. The results are fine and filigreed with aromas of sour cherry, smoke, tar and pencil shaving. I love the precision of this Barolo and the energy capped within its lean and tight mouthfeel.-Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate

This 2018 Barolo Rocche Dell'Annunziata from Renato Ratti has a beautifully fragranced nose of ripe, sweet red fruit, wild strawberries, wild rose, freesia and spice. On the palate it is juicy and vibrant with a very lively acidity and slightly darker fruit, licorice and woodland flavors. The tannins are very light and feel quite integrated and harmonious already. This is a very elegant Barolo, with a long, mouthwatering and creamy finish. The Rocche Dell'Annunziata vineyard is situated at 300 m asl and faces south-east thereby getting the gentler early morning sun.-Susan Hulme, Wine Independent

Ratti’s signature Barolo from this famed site near the winery is an unqualified success from the 2018 vintage. Wild strawberry, thyme and redcurrant aromas are representative of this site, along with notes of coriander and cardamom; a hint of balsamic emerges in the finish as well. The 2018 vintage for Barolo offered more supple, somewhat Burgundian in style than usual; this is a splendid combination of that appeal combined with an excellent sense of place.-Tom Hyland, Decanter