Snappy acidity creates a clean-cut frame for the creamy mix of poached apricot, chamomile, salty mineral and mandarin orange peel aromas and flavors in this well-meshed, light-on-its-feet white. Drink now through 2027. 1,100 cases made, 200 cases imported.

2022 James Suckling Top 100 Italian Wines  #45.  

The freshness and firmness of this young 2017 Barbaresco is impressive. The wine is tight and reserved, but suggests greatness, offering cherries, dark cherries, dried flowers and crushed stones. Intense tannins. This is a wine for the cellar. Give it five or six years of bottle age. Try after 2027.

BEST VALUES.  Rich and vibrant, this red evokes black cherry, plum, earth, iron and spice flavors. Nicely balanced, with dense, integrated tannins lining the finish. Drink now through 2026. 6,700 cases made, 4,800 cases imported.

A nebbiolo that shows lots of Mediterranean spices and herbs, together with strawberries, dried earth and minerals. A medium-bodied, textured palate, showing dried-herb savoriness on the transparent but austere center-palate. Firm, savory and dry. Drink or hold.

A certified organic wine with 7,500 bottles released, the 2019 Pinot Noir Krafuss is a fine expression of the Burgundian grape that needs a little extra time to open aromatically. With patience, the wine is generous with wild cherry, rose, sour plum and blue flower. Delicate spices also appear. It is lean in appearance with a medium ruby color, and the mouthfeel follows suit with freshness and fragility. The Krafuss Vineyard is located in the hills of San Michele Appiano and Montagna at 430 to 450 meters in elevation with rocky and clay calcareous soils.

The 2020 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Podium is youthfully inward and coy at first, with a dusty florality and hints of cardamom in the glass. Swirling unlocks nuances of sage and rosemary, ginger and hints of smoky cracked stones, yet its fruit, leaning toward apricot, is still quite shy. Today, this impresses more on the palate, deeply savory and mineral in style, with a herbal twang and sour melon which place it firmly into the green fruit spectrum, all brilliantly offset by a saturating salty sensation. The palate is left reeling with spicy tension; the 2020 finishes structured, leaving the cheeks puckered and the mouth watering thanks to a late-arriving bump of zesty acidity. This will take some time to show its best, but it will be time well spent.

Quite a flamboyant feel to this on the nose, showing raspberries and grainy notes, together with hints of fresh mushrooms. Some brighter passion fruit comes through with air. Medium-bodied with an intense core of vibrant fruit and youthful tannin which together, given time, will add length and breadth to the wine. Wait for this one. Try from 2024.

The 2018 Chardonnay Lowengang captivates with its understated yet deeply layered bouquet, as sweet smoke blows off to reveal ripe peaches complemented by a mix of curry leaves and fresh vanilla bean. This is silky and elegant in texture, yet not weighty in feel, as contrasting notes of lemon oil and granny smith apple give way to an enriching air of confectionary custards. It leaves a concentration of tart orchard fruits and salty minerals to linger, while finishing remarkably long, but also fresh. There is simply so much going on in this glass and only more to come through medium-term cellaring. The integration of oak is spot-on. This is Italian Chardonnay done right.