Lustrous mid ruby with orange tinges. Sweet, deep cherry nose with savoury spice touches. Supple, rich sweet-sour cherry fruit on the palate with clayey tannins. A big mouthful of juicy fruit that is nonetheless finely balanced. Ready now.

Protective and precise style here. Blood-orange and floral bouquet, restrained if not reductive, with cherry candy and chocolatey depth. Smooth attack to the palate with medium body, assertive acidity and refined tannins that turn dustier on the finish. Overall juicy and fresh, yet slightly stern. Try after 2027.

Verità is a true all-Italian vodka, distilled from Italian wheat and Alpine Mountain water. Exceptionally smooth and pure, in part due to its unique distillation process, Verità is distilled four times, with the final distillation taking place in an antique, wood-fired bain marie still.

Choices, choices, choices... The Vietti 2021 Barolo Cerequio is another classic from this over-performing estate. This parcel was purchased in 2018 from the Chiarlo family (the Krause family acquired Vietti in 2016), and although the location is La Morra, the site behaves more like Sarmassa in Barolo, creating wines with a firm, tight entry and good structure. You could say that it has a nervous character now in its adolescence, and of course we expect it to smooth out and find harmony with time. Fruit was harvested on September 30th, and the wine sees 27 days of extended skin maceration. Compared to Brunate, which is always darker in character, the Cerequio is lighter and brighter with pretty primary fruit. Production is 4,890 bottles.

A playful fusion of sweet watermelon candy, tangy pickled rind, and lush raspberries greets the senses.  The palate bursts with juicy raspberries, invigorating the taste buds with each sip. The lively acidity and delicate tannins provide a refreshing backbone, leading to a zippy, energetic finish.

Mentholated herbs mix with exotic spice, tobacco and crushed ashen stones as the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva PS blossoms in the glass. This is sleek and youthfully slender, with tart wild berry fruits and hints of sour citrus that flow across a stream of cooling acidity. It finishes structured and impossibly long, leaving a pleasantly tart cranberry concentration that pinches at the cheeks. There's significantly more energy and verve embodied in the 2019 Riserva than is typical. It should be fascinating to watch it mature over time.

Very spicy and smoky, showing graphite, almost sulfur, as well as incense and red fruit. Medium- to full-bodied, austere yet balanced. The juicy palate is supple and crisp with velvety tannins and a long, dusty finish. Drinkable now but best from 2026.

Rose hip, pomegranate, strawberry, hay and eucalyptus aromas and flavors mark this linear, almost tart red. Offset by firm tannins, while the terrific finish leaves layers of flavor and a mouthwatering impression. Approachable now with food but better in a few years. Best from 2027 through 2043.