The 2019 Rosso is very easy to like with its vibrant display of citrus-tinged sweet wild berries and violets. It’s soft in feel with juicy acids that usher in a balancing mix of tart red and black fruits. Energy remains high as this tapers off spicy with a hint of lime and green apple, which may seem out of place in a Rosso yet works well here. This is a blend of 60% Carignano, 30% Cannonau and 10% Muristellu (Bovale Sardo).

Lively acidity and tangy salinity drive this creamy, light-bodied white, whose flavors of pineapple, apricot and lemon thyme show a zesty orange peel edge, followed by a lingering finish. Drink Now. 

The Badia a Coltibuono 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Cultus Boni is an organic wine from one of the most consistent and productive estates in Gaiole in Chianti. The wine is grounded in fresh primary fruit with wild cherry, blackberry and some faint dustings of exotic spice, toasted nut, crushed stone and dried flowers. You also get hints of lavender, sage and dried mint. Cultus Boni is one of the most terroir-driven wines of this subzone (and the price point is excellent).

The 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone is ample and creamy, with all of the natural radiance of the year on display. Ripe red cherry, rose petal, cedar, lavender and spice all build as this extroverted Vino Nobile shows off its considerable allure. Even with all of its exotic beauty, the 2017 retains quite a bit of energy and plenty of structure, with a good deal of translucent vibrancy as well. In a word: superb.

The 2020 Rosato Susumaniello Askos slowly evolves in the glass, at first just dusty and floral, then developing a vivid display of melon and sweet spice over time. It’s soft, almost creamy in feel, soothing further with ripe citrus-tinged fruits, as a wave of juicy acidity lifts the experience nicely. This concluded perfumed and spicy to notes of ginger and kiwi. Very nice.

The 2018 Cannonau di Sardegna Sincaru wafts up with a smoky display of blackberries, crushed stone and dried roses. Its textures are silky, casting wild berry fruits across a core of zesty acids, as salty minerals come forward toward the close. While a bit tart through the finale, energy remains high, leaving a juicy and wonderfully fresh impression.

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.

This is really something, showing all the depth and intensity of a top nebbiolo with strawberry, light cherry, stone and floral aromas. Some spice and dried fruit, too. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Some chocolate and dark fruit. Burnt-orange undertone. Shows intensity and depth. Drink after 2023.