Masses of purple-tinged peppery florals, crushed plums and smoky minerals lift up from the 2017 Cabernet Franc. It’s lean and focused in the mouth, coming across as salty and savory with tart wild berries that saturate all that they touch. That said, the 2017 maintains wonderful energy, even through its structured and almost-chewy finish. While this shows a bit of the warm vintage with its intense fruit and gruff tannin, it should still flesh out nicely and drink beautifully over the medium term.

Selecting fruit from the Scarrone vineyard in Castiglione Falletto, Luca Currado ages this wine in a mix of large oak casks, barriques and stainless-steel tanks. It’s bold and concentrated in the warm 2017 vintage, violet-scented and brimming with flavors of juicy raspberry and blackberry—deep, dense and vibrantly alive. For a wine that seems to push the limits on alcohol, acidity and fruit concentration, it’s impressively balanced and elegant.

The NV Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Dei Casel lifts up with poise and precision, displaying dusty dried flowers, young pear and hints of white smoke. It impresses with a lovely inner sweetness, balanced by zesty acids and hints of spice. Seamless is the word that comes to mind, as this travels across the palate with creamy textures; yet it then resolves into a classically dry expression through the finale. You’ll be hard-pressed to stop after just one glass. This was bottled in September of 2020.

Loaded with personality, this opens with aromas of forest floor, new leather, camphor and ripe black-skinned fruit. The palate boasts an earthy elegance reminiscent of top Burgundies, showcasing ripe black cherry, crushed raspberry, truffle, star anise and a hint of salted game. Firm, fine-grained tannins provide support while fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2022–2036.

This red evokes pure cherry and black pepper flavors, with hints of tar, earth and tobacco on a lightweight frame. It's more savory than fruity at this stage, with latent ripeness. Dense, chalky tannins rim the finish, with fine balanceand length overall. Best from 2023 through 2038. —B.S.

Made with organic fruit, the 2016 Carmignano Villa di Capezzana is an 80/20 blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is open and accessible, showing a graceful and pure quality of fruit with dark cherry, blackberry, spice, tar and tobacco. The mouthfeel is streamlined and compact, but what this wine lacks in power it makes up for in elegance. This sample from 2016 was sent along with a bottle from 2010 so that I could track its impressive bottle evolution. In fact, I widened my suggested drinking window after tasting that older bottle.

Vietti's 2017 Barolo Lazzarito is absolutely gorgeous. Whatever the challenges of the growing season, they appear to have been no problem here. More than anything else, the Lazzarito impresses with its magnificent depth and stature. Super-ripe red fruit, white pepper, mint, tobacco, cured meat, spice and rose petal open gradually with time in the glass. I would not be in a rush to open bottles anytime soon. The Lazzarito has been one of the most improved wines at Vietti for a number of years. The 2017 is so captivating.

The 2017 Barolo Ravera is a powerhouse. My impression is that the 2017 is going to develop into something truly special. It has all the energy that makes this site so distinctive, but with an extra kick of fruit density and a whole range of exotic aromatics that make for a truly drop-dead gorgeous wine. Bright red/purplish fruit, rose petal, chalk and white pepper build into a finish laced with searing intensity. This is such an impressive wine.