97 Wine Spectator
Dark ruby red color. Currant, Christmas cake, mint and spices. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a long, long finish. This is balanced and refined. It's layered and beautiful. This is still tight and not giving much. A few more years will yield a lot. Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2009. 7,000 cases made. JS
97 Wine Spectator
Dark ruby red color. Currant, Christmas cake, mint and spices. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a long, long finish. This is balanced and refined. It's layered and beautiful. This is still tight and not giving much. A few more years will yield a lot. Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2009. 7,000 cases made. JS
97 James Suckling
Gorgeous. Shows alluring aromas and flavors of currants and raspberries with hints of balsamic and mint. Full and round in the mouth. So youthful still. Just a baby. Drink or hold.
96 Robert Parker
Parker:
The unfiltered 1997 Solaia (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, and 5% Cabernet Franc, from a single 25-acre vineyard) is aged in 100% new French oak. There are 8,000 cases of the 1997. The sensational, opaque blue/purple-colored 1997 exhibits a complex nose of cedar, spice box, cassis, and subtle oak. With yields of only 30 hectoliters per hectare, and malolactic fermentation in barrel (a la Tignanello), this wine reveals extraordinary concentration, a thick, viscous texture, yet no sense of heaviness or ponderousness. It is a thrilling Solaia to consume over the next two decades. If a first-growth Pauillac were made in Tuscany, this would be it!
Galloni:
The 1997 Solaia is awesome. Sweet, open aromatics lead to a rich, full-bodied expression of dark cherries, plums, menthol and spices. This sensual, full-bodied wine remains youthful and full of life. The 1997 is a great Solaia. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2017.
96 Robert Parker
Parker:
The unfiltered 1997 Solaia (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, and 5% Cabernet Franc, from a single 25-acre vineyard) is aged in 100% new French oak. There are 8,000 cases of the 1997. The sensational, opaque blue/purple-colored 1997 exhibits a complex nose of cedar, spice box, cassis, and subtle oak. With yields of only 30 hectoliters per hectare, and malolactic fermentation in barrel (a la Tignanello), this wine reveals extraordinary concentration, a thick, viscous texture, yet no sense of heaviness or ponderousness. It is a thrilling Solaia to consume over the next two decades. If a first-growth Pauillac were made in Tuscany, this would be it!
Galloni:
The 1997 Solaia is awesome. Sweet, open aromatics lead to a rich, full-bodied expression of dark cherries, plums, menthol and spices. This sensual, full-bodied wine remains youthful and full of life. The 1997 is a great Solaia. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2017.