Ricca Terra 2023 Bullets Before Cannonballs 750ml

Tempranillo, lambrusco, shiraz, lagrein. Ricca Terra craft wines that feel quite alive in the glass, perhaps due to their deep agricultural understanding and farming practices. I could be romanticising, but this wine is a living thing. Soft leather, aniseed rings, fresh fig and dry earth. Dark chocolate and blood plum. The tannins have a lateral extension within, beyond the spine of the drink, leaf vein-like. For its close-to-earth rusticity, it certainly polishes up and carries an elegant composition further endorsed by impeccable balance.

Score: 95 points -- Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion, 2025