Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta 'Sugarille'

2020 Vintage Tasted: Sep 2024

Blackberry, tobacco, cedar, dark-earth and walnut aromas follow through to a full body with chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. A little austere at the end. Very structured. Needs three or four years to soften.

96 / 100 Revista Adega

2004 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2024

Tem os aromas do Brunello com um toque adicional. Fruta vermelha, terra molhada e a camurça de seus quase 20 anos de vida. Vibrante e suculento. Taninos que lembram a textura de calcáreo. Em boca, tem a vinosidade, balsâmico, especiarias e a acidez de comer um morango maduro e fresco. Um grande vinho hoje e por mais 20 anos.

About Revista Adega

2019 Vintage Tasted: Dec 2023

Extremely perfumed and intense with lilacs, violets, purple fruits and black cherries. Full-bodied and very structured with punchy tannins that give this great length and intensity. This is a great one for the cellar. Try after 2027.

About Vinum Wine Magazine

17 / 20 Vinum Wine Magazine

2008 Vintage Tasted: Dec 2023

When to drink: 2016 to 2021

Die Brunello werden wie die Nebbiolo ausgebaut: ein Jahr Barrique, gefolgt von einem Jahr im grossen Holzfass, anschliessend Flaschenreife. Noten von Veilchen und Steinobst; am Gaumen geschmeidig, mit rassiger Säure, sollte noch reifen.

96 / 100 Falstaff

2018 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2023

Clear, medium-density ruby garnet. Smells of fresh, crisp cherries, blood orange and Mediterranean herbs on the nose. Spreads very richly on the attack, juicy, criso cherry fruit and some blackberry characterize the palate, shows grippy, savoury tannin on the back end, long finish.

2018 Vintage Tasted: Nov 2022

Aromas of red plums, sour cherries, spice box, oranges, cloves and capers. Moss and porcini, too. Beautifully open, with a medium to full body and very fine, silky tannins. Lovely purity of fruit here, with a long, seamless finish. Ethereal and transparent. Drink from 2024.

95 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2016 Vintage Tasted: May 2021

Violet, new leather, camphor and spiced plum aromas are front and center on this fragrant red. Boasting structure and elegance, the full-bodied palate delivers Marasca cherry, cranberry, licorice and a hint of espresso alongside tightly wound, close-grained tannins. Drink 2026–2041. Kerin O’Keefe

96 / 100 Falstaff

2016 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2021

Brilliant, rich ruby with garnet rim. Exciting and complex nose with notes of dark wild raspberries, plum, plus some blood orange and cardamom. Very compact and grippy on the palate, shows hearty tannin, a lot of drive, plus ripe, dark fruit, can still store for a long time.

97 / 100 Owen Bargreen

2015 Vintage Tasted: Dec 2020

When to drink: 2027 to 2050

Documents have mentioned growing vines on this site since the sixteenth century, as ‘Sugarille’ is named after the cork trees that were planted here many decades ago. The wine shows more flavor intensity and weight than the slightly more elegant ‘Rennina’ as intense exotic spices, and black currants dance with smoky and earthy tones on the palate. Refined tannins hold everything together marvelously as the combination of weight, finesse and verve here is second to none. I can only imagine how beautifully this will age. Quite restrained even after two hours in the decanter, enjoy this in about six to eight years.

About Owen Bargreen

2016 Vintage Tasted: Nov 2020

Plenty of black cherries, cedar, dried flowers and red cherries on the nose, following through to the palate, which is dense and compressed with gorgeous, intense fruit and chewy yet integrated tannins. Very, very impressive red here. Try after 2024.

2015 Vintage Tasted: Aug 2020

A fantastically structured, serious 2015 Brunello with crushed-berry, chocolate and walnut aromas and flavors. Full-bodied and chewy with loads of fruit, yet framed with lots of ripe tannins that are polished and poised. Better after 2023.

90 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2015 Vintage Tasted: Jul 2020

Aromas of eucalyptus, dried mint, coconut, scorched underbrush and dried tobacco leaf take shape in the glass, along with whiffs of stewed prune. The big assertive palate evokes dried cherry, candied orange rind, star anise and the heat of evident alcohol set against tightly knit close-grained tannins that leave a rather astringent, mouthdrying finish. While the tannins need a few more years to unclench, you should drink sooner rather than later to enjoy the remaining fruit. Kerin O’Keefe

96 / 100 Falstaff

2015 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2020

Brilliant, rich ruby with garnet. Opens with intense earthy notes, black truffle and tobacco, then lots of blackberry. Round and rich in attack and course, lots of grippy tannin, packed in sweet texture, builds up for a long time, juicy and with firm drive on the finish.

95 / 100 Falstaff

2013 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2018

Rich ruby with a slight garnet sheen. Penetrating nose with rich notes of dark rose petals and blackberry. Shows rich, dense tannins on the palate, building in many layers, salty and with a long finish.

96 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2013 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2018

Underbrush, new leather, wild herb and dark-skin berry aromas meld with balsamic whiffs of eucalyptus. The full-bodied firmly structured palate evokes raspberry compote, black cherry marinated in spirits, tobacco and star anise set against a backbone of close-grained tannins. This will age for decades. Drink 2023–2043.

2013 Vintage Tasted: Sep 2017

A very aromatic red. Typical sangiovese aromas of cherry and rose petal with hints of bark. Full body, firm and silky tannins. A racy linear line runs through it. Tight and firm now. Give it two or three years to soften.

92 / 100 Wine Enthusiast

2011 Vintage Tasted: Jan 2017

Aromas of underbrush, scorched earth, French oak and a whiff of new leather lift out of the glass. The powerfully structured palate offers dried black cherry, toast, espresso and dark spice alongside firm fine-grained tannins. It's still a bit austere so give it a few more years to fully develop. Drink 2020–2025.

93 / 100 Falstaff

2011 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2016

Brilliant, rich ruby with a fine garnet sheen. Smells like an oriental bazaar - cloves, cardamom and coriander leaping out of the glass, then lots of cherry. Very inviting. On the palate there's intense fruit, certainly juicy in the approach, before dense, rich tannin begins to build in many layers. The finish is hearty and firm, with plenty of stuffing.

2011 Vintage Tasted: Feb 2016

A powerful red with chewy tannins and hints of cedar and wood. Full-bodied, tight and tannic. I like the tannin tension. Needs two or three years to soften: Try in 2017.

2010 Vintage Tasted: Oct 2015

Fabulous aromas of plums, prunes, Christmas pudding and berries. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a long and intense finish. Polished and refined. Give this wine two or three years to soften.

95 / 100 Falstaff

2010 Vintage Tasted: Mar 2015

Stoffiges, dunkles Rubin. Sehr dichte und einprägsame Nase, satt nach Brombeeren und reifen Zwetschgen, im Hintergrund etwas Kastanienhonig. Saftig und satt am Gaumen, zeigt zunächst schöne reife Beerenfrucht, vollmundig, tolles Spiel; zeigt dann viel dichtmaschiges, sattes Tannin, sehr langer Nachhall.

2008 Vintage Tasted: Feb 2013

Very pretty aromas of blackberries and milk chocolate follow through to a full body, with fine tannins and a silky texture. Hazelnuts too. Drink or hold.