93 David Schildknecht - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"Abbatucci’s 2011 Ajaccio Faustine – a roughly 70-30 blend of Sciacarellu and Niellucciu – intensely delivers a wealth of floral and herbal notes (especially marjoram and thyme) both in the nose and on a vibrant, buoyant, silken-textured palate. Ripe cherry and strawberry serve for a juicy fundament, while black pepper, smoky black tea, iodine, and mineral salts lend saliva-inducement and pungent invigoration to an exhilarating and mouthwatering finish. I expect this to remain impressive through at least 2018."

"I hope that a substantial share of those reading these lines will by now have had an opportunity to taste at least one wine of Jean-Charles Abbatucci, about whose amazing work I have written on several occasions in this venue, including extensively in my issue 205 report. So I’ll spare you more tales at this time and get right to the wines, of which this summer I was finally able to taste an entire line-up. To verify vintages on the numerous Abbatucci wines that are not of appellation Ajaccio and formally non-vintage, consult the first two digits that appear in tiny print on the back label immediately after the capital “L.” (In the event that such a “lot number” cannot be located – which applies to any non-AOC Abbatucci wines prior to the 2011 harvest – you are at the mercy of your retail or restaurant source, although “Cuvee Collection” wines from before that date do display vintages on their corks.)"