The 2016 Barolo Riserva Villero is a dense, packed wine. Black cherry, plum, licorice, leather and incense add to an impression of brooding, virile intensity. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 clearly needs time. Even so, my belief remains what it has always been—that Villero is not the best vineyard in the Vietti range. That is even more apparent today, given the new sites that have been added to the range. The logic of making the estate's Riserva, theoretically the estate's top wine, from this site has always escaped me. That is more true today than ever, given the elite sites Vietti has added to their range in recent years.

Made with equal amounts of nine organically farmed native grape varieties (Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo, Foglia Tonda, Malvasia Nera, Pugnitello, Mammolo, Sanforte, Colorino and Sangiovese), the delicious 2019 Montebello delivers great fruit flavors of ripe plum and black cherry accented with notes of dark spice, grilled rosemary, camphor, juniper and a dollop of vanilla. Each grape is fermented and aged separately for two years in barriques before the assembled wine is aged for six months in large casks, resulting in a full-bodied, savory wine with taut, fine-grained tannins. Drink 2025–2034.

A dense, solidly built version, whose core of cherry and raspberry fruit is accented by iron, wild herb and juniper notes. Focused by vibrant acidity and underlined with chalky tannins, this red is long and detailed on the finish. Best from 2027 through 2045.

Showing an especially bold bouquet and rich concentration, the Siro Pacenti 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli is a big expression of Sangiovese by all means, but the wine is also balanced. The intensity is played up with aromas of baked fruit, toasted spice, sweet herb and grilled rosemary, and there is a hint of redwood and cedar or barbecue smoke. To the palate, the wine is very round and fleshed out. It covers all corners of the mouth. This is a big-boned wine with powdery young tannins and a velvety finish. Aging takes place in French barrique, which has always been the stylistic choice favored by this estate. Production is 26,000 bottles.  

The 2023 Valdobbiadene Vigneto Giardino Rive di Colbertaldo Asciutto is delicate yet remarkably pretty, wafting up with a cascade of floral perfumes and hints of sweet spice, peach sorbet and nectarine. It floods the palate with a creamy bead of fine bubbles and ripe orchard fruits, all guided by brilliant acidity as a nuance of candied citrus informs the close. Notes of green apple, melon and a sensation of liquid stone appear as the 2023 finishes with amazing length and complexity. This is fantastic.

A very pretty, perfumed, young Etna rosso with plenty of fresh flowers, focus and finesse. Medium-bodied, it has fine tannins and a long, bright finish. Best ever? Drink now or hold.

A little more robust and richer on the finish, the Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Gaiun Martinenga offers aromas of cooked cherry and plum. This wine offers a darker fruit profile compared to the others, and it also shows greater structural support. There is a firm, mineral note of iron or rust that should dissolve beautifully as this wine continues its bottle aging. Production is 8,000 bottles.

The 2010 Alta Langa Riserva Zero 140 Pas Dosé is airy and fresh with a bouquet of white flowers, crushed almonds, incense and vanilla-laced peaches. It’s elegant in feel, with a silken wave of fine bubbles and ripe orchard fruits that swirl across a stream of brilliant acidity. The 2010 remains remarkably fresh despite its age, leaving hints of tropical citrus and sweet inner florals to linger over a saline mineral saturation. Wow.