90 Points | International Wine Cellar , August 2012

(mainly cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot):  Good saturated medium ruby color.  Cassis, black cherry and mocha on the nose, along with a whiff of minty aromatic herbs.  Sweet, dense and ripe, with dark chocolate and mineral notes complementing the ripe black fruit flavors.  This big wine is extremely suave and rich but not heavy.  Finishes with big but even tannins and excellent persistence.  Owner Gianpaolo Motta, who I see in Bordeaux as often as I do in Chianti, works with renowned consultant Stephane Derenoncourt to make the wines of La Massa.  But as good as the Giorgio I is, I'd prefer that it had more of a Tuscan flavor, as this wine could be made anywhere.  Then again, Motta very candidly admitted to me a few years ago that he had trouble selling Giorgio I as a Chianti Classico, and that he didn't feel older vintages had aged as well as they should have.  Thus he left the Chianti Classico denominazione and opted to use more of the international varieties in his blends.  Starting with the 2009, Giorgio I will be just cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot.   

94 Points | Wine Spectator

93 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate