Wine Spectator
Dark ruby in color, with extremely ripe raisin and spice aromas. Full-bodied and very chewy, with loads of polished tannins and a long, long finish that's big and fruity. A solid, muscular red fromTuscany, this is the greatest Solaia ever made.
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.
Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
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!