Tenuta Sant'Antonio Valpolicella Superiore La Bandina 2020

17.5/20 points Jancis Robinson: "From a single vineyard. 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 20% Rondinella, 10% Croatina (gives elegance) and Oseleta (tannin and colour). 25-year-old vines on skeletal limestone with silt and sand. Hand-picked in October. Temperature-controlled fermentation, selected yeasts. Bâtonnage every 15 days. Aged for two years in big, 25-hl Austrian barrels (Austrian and French oak). They are moving more and more to Austrian oak because it seems to work better with their wines in terms of tannins and fruit expression and elegance. Bottled in April 2023. They are now using less oak.
This is delicious! The tannins are a silk sheath; there are beautifully harmonious threads of oak woven subtly and deeply within the fabric of wine bringing flecks of spice and long, dark lines of liquorice and whispers of dark chocolate to contour the luscious, sappy dark-red cherry fruit; the finish is minty, peppery and cool. There is so much here to explore, but the heartbeat of this wine is the soaring, flute-pure, gloriously fresh fruit. The fruit is mesmerising. And the beauty of this wine is that the winemaking is so sensitive that it allows the fruit to sing the untrammelled song of the vineyard. This is what Valpolicella should taste like. Drink 2023-2033 (Jul 2023)"

93 points Eric Guido (Vinous): "[$50 list] A darkly alluring blend of crushed wild berries, lavender, chalk dust and hints of seared meat wafts up from the 2020 Valpolicella Superiore La Bandina. This is a model of purity, with crisp wild berry fruits underscored by saline minerals, all guided by zesty acidity. It tapers off long and spicy, leaving rosy inner florals and a coating of fine tannins that frames the experience without slowing its momentum. This is the first vintage that La Bandina was matured entirely in large-format 25-hectoliter Austrian oak barrels. Drink 2025-2029 (Feb 2024)"

. 93 points Luca Maroni (Jul 2023)