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.

This is a serious beauty that reminds us of the brilliant work underway at this leading estate. Yes, ownership has changed over recent years, but this wine remains "Rocche-solid." From an epic vintage, the Vietti 2021 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione is a classic with those elegant mineral notes of glacial till and flake salt followed by carefully ripened fruit, blackcurrant and a finely tuned floral note of fragrant tea leaf that hits the high notes. The effect is ethereal but also precise. Fruit comes from two parcels, one planted in 1958 and the other in 1969, and the blend is half of each fermented together. Fruit was picked on October 1st, and the wine saw 24 days on the skins. The first year this wine was produced is 1961. The Rocche di Castiglione site has 35% sand with marl soils that continue to evolve, kicking out more new sand. Only 3,728 bottles exist, and that's the bad news.

The Siro Pacenti 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva PS opens to an inky black appearance. The bouquet is very intense with baritone aromas of syrupy blackberry, barbecue spice, sweet cedar, toasted wood, baked fruit and savory tobacco. To the palate, it shows a rich, glossy finish with firm tannins and a tightly knit texture that should bode well for future cellaring. In fact, the mouthfeel is so intensely stitched together, it's to the point of feeling polished. I must hand it to vintner Giancarlo Pacenti for the elegance of the mouthfeel on this very, very bold Riserva (with only 2,000 bottles produced).

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.

This is very intense with electric acidity. Dried apples, lemons and minerals with a salty undertone. Full-bodied with phenolic tension and an extremely long finish. Hints of oyster. Needs two or three years to show its greatness, but fantastic already.

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.

Past vintages of this wine were called Roncaglie Masseria, but the word Masseria has been removed. The Vietti 2021 Barbaresco Roncaglie draws its fruit from inclined vineyards that produce fruit with finesse and elegance. This pretty wine opens to a note of fragrant flower or heritage rose that accompanies you over a long, silky close. In a good vintage like 2021, vintners could push skin macerations a little longer. This wine saw 25 days on the skins compared to 22 days in the 2022 vintage. Vietti recently purchased land in Rabajà, a site that produces profound wines, and this plot in Roncaglie has a greater presence of sand in its soils, creating more floral and delicate expressions instead. This matures in large oak casks for 24 months, and production is 6,066 bottles.

You could argue that this is the wine with the fasting growing quality trajectory because this vineyard site is one of those rare places in the appellation that appears to improve despite (or more likely because of) a changing climate. Ravera enjoys an open panorama (at 400 to 440 meters in elevation) that extends to the snow-capped Alps and benefits from cooler air currents, coupled with an amazing quality of light that you notice with the naked eye. The 2021 Barolo Ravera saw its fruit harvested later than the other wines, on October 11th, and continued with a classic Vietti-style fermentation with 20-plus days of skin contact. Simply put, what Ravera offers is complexity (and strength) with hints of bergamot, citrus, herbs, mineral and salt over a tightly concentrated mouthfeel. The quality of the tannins and the freshness of this 2021 are impressive, and that citrusy note continues with tangerine skin and kumquat.  Production is 8,700 bottles.