VALUE ITALY PICK OF THE WEEK 

Dark and brooding, this red features ripe black cherry, blackberry, wild herb, earth and iron flavors. Gains in richness, density and ripeness what it loses in freshness, though shows fine balance and length. Drink now through 2028

Of these new releases from this benchmark estate, the Casanova di Neri 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is my favorite wine. 

This Riserva is larger than life with ripe fruit, raspberry, cherry, spice, cola, root beer, mesquite and cedar. The wine offers a flashy and generous quality of fruit that unfolds over time with a multifaceted and multi-layered presentation. One thing that stands out here is the acidity that is bracing and tart at first but then succumbs to an important supporting role, rendering lasting freshness and persistence to the finish. With time, you get a flash of cherry and crème de cassis that seals the deal.

From the Martinenga cru’s western end, adjacent to Rabajà, this Riserva is bold yet balanced in the warm 2015 vintage. It unfolds with lush red and dark cherry flavors accented by notes of lavender and dried herbs. The wine’s ample tannins honed first in barriques and then in Slavonian oak casks, remain firm and mineral, and will maintain balance as the wine ages over the next decade and beyond.

This is sleek and well-defined, offering black cherry, blackberry, tar, iron and tobacco flavors shaped by vivid acidity. The tannins are dense, yet overall this is balanced, lingering on the complex, spicy finish. Sangiovese, Colorino, Canaiolo and Merlot. Best from 2021 through 2036. 10,000 cases made, 2,500 cases imported.

A mild winter was followed by a rainy spring, giving great water reserves for the summer. The growing season was without extremes, the grapes reaching ripeness after three days of rain in the middle of September. 'All the grapes were perfect,' said Filippo Contini Bonacossi. Indeed, 2016 is one of the best recent vintages in Tuscany. This wine, crimson and dark, is full of concentration and extract without losing grace. Fresh bramble fruits dominated by raspberry are joined by violet, leafy notes and liquorice. The tannins are grainy and masculine, yet precise on the finish. Refreshing and balanced, this is the wine representative of the estate's postmodern winemaking: the first to be officially organic and partially aged in large oak vessels. A great Carmignano.

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.