This is one of my sweetheart wines from Montalcino. The Casanova di Neri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova offers a long list of aromas on an ever-shifting and fluid bouquet. You get bright cherry, rose potpourri, black truffle, caramel, butterscotch, sandalwood, road pavement and chalky mineral. In fact, each time I come back to this wine, that mineral element seemed to grow in intensity and scope. The wine offers a grounded fruit side that is contrasted nicely against a grounded oak component. The mouthfeel is creamy and long, and the wine shows terrific tannic integration. When you come back hours later, you might find black olive, bresaola and licorice.

The 2019 Prosecco Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive di Colbertaldo Asciutto Vigneto Giardino displays musky peaches and pears backed by dusty dried florals and lemon zests. It’s a round, pliant and jovial expression, balancing ripe orchard fruits and sweet spice against vibrant acids. Hints of candied ginger linger through the mouthwatering finale. With just a touch of residual sugar, the Vigneto Giardino comes across as wonderfully balanced and fully satisfying. This was bottled in September of 2020.

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.

What a beauty. The Tenuta di Capezzana 2012 Vin Santo di Carmignano Riserva (packaged in a 375-milliliter bottle) inches forth from the tiny bottle slowly and ultimately reveals a spectacular color that is orange, copper and almost green at the same time. I tasted bottle number 962 of a precious 4,968 produced. This Vin Santo puts on a real show thanks to its rich viscosity that slides, shifts and glistens in the glass. There are many aromas to describe, and it is hard to do this wine justice given how quickly they shift and change. There is honey, brown sugar, dried herb, forest mushroom, caramel and tilled earth. I even got a hint of rubber boot. This is a work of art and a clear passion project. Assigning a numerical score to an aspirational wine like this somehow misses the point, but here goes nothing.

The 2019 Pinot Grigio Mongris is a spicy, savory expression of the grape, fresh and more floral than fruity. It’s silky textures usher in citrus-tinged orchard fruits and salty minerals, creating an energetic and tactile display. Hints of lime and residual acids sizzle through the finale, making it hard to resist another sip.

Spicy, perfumed and loaded with character, the 2019 Sauvignon lifts up with a mix of crushed green apples, geraniums and savory spice. The textures are silky and refined, with a pure display of ripe orchard fruits and zesty citrus that contrasts between sweet and sour. Pretty inner florals, notes of chamomile, kiwi and peach resonate throughout the wonderful long finale.

The NV Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Bosco di Gica punches well above its price point, boasting an intensely smoky and mineral expression on the nose that pulls you close to the glass. Beneath, I’m finding notes of pear and sweet herbal tones. It’s soothing and creamy yet balanced by brisk acids, as ripe orchard fruits satiate the senses, leaving a salty twang that resonates through the finale. Wow. This is a pleasure to taste. This was bottled in September of 2020.

The 2017 Barolo Brunate is a powerful, brooding wine. Huge dark fruit, leather, spice, menthol and dried herbs all build in a potent Barolo that is enshrouded by tannins. The 2017 is going to need quite a bit of time in the cellar. Today, it is very much a brooding powerhouse. Dark wild cherry, licorice, tar, menthol and spice take shape in the glass, but the 2017 is clearly an infant, and an unruly one at that.