Wine Spectator

Blockbuster. Ruby-garnet color with a brick-red hue. Aromas of ripe berry, almost prune, with coffee and mahogany, turning to berry and plum. Full-bodied, with firm chewy tannins and a long plum, smoke and spicy aftertaste. Giant wine. This still needs lots of time.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2010. (JS, Web-2007)

Vinous

The 1997 Barolo Riserva Villero is at the early part of its drinking window. It shows drop-dead gorgeous intensity and marvelous inner perfume, all supported by plenty of tannic heft. This is pure Villero and pure 1997, both at their very best. The fruit builds with considerable momentum to the glorious finish. The 1997 is another wine in which only one of the two Villero parcels was vinified. (AG)

(08/2011)

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 1997 Barolo Riserva Villero is an unquestioned success in a vintage whose wines are not always maintaining the promise they first showed. A firm garnet, the powerful aromas of rose petals, chocolate, raisins, and tar give way to backward, chewy, mouthfilling flavors, warm, enveloping, and with important length. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2020. (PR)

(10/2003)