Dark-cherry aromas with nutmeg and flowers follow through to a full body with firm, linear tannins that are polished and beautiful at the end. Succulent and attractive now, but will age nicely. Drink or hold.

Green apple and lemon zest/oil dominate the aromatic profile, showcasing a mineral-driven character. Lean on the palate with a salty quality, this wine pairs exceptionally well with oysters or other seafood dishes.

This is one of my all-time favorite Brunellos, and although personal tastes are fluid and may change from time to time, there is something timeless and solid about this wine. It's like a touchstone. The Casanova di Neri 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova is graced with a similar interlude of elegant rose or crushed flower that we saw in the annata wine. It appears more prominently here, and with more shape and focused intensity. Make no mistake, Giacomo Neri builds wines for pleasure and sensual impact, and this wine (helped by a hot growing season and 15% alcohol) ticks all those boxes. But it also shows floral elegance and sour cherry freshness that defies our expectations of the vintage.

The 2019 Barolo Brunate is a powerhouse. Black cherry, plum, spice, lavender, mocha, gravel and scorched earth all build as this virile, potent Barolo struts its stuff. The Brunate is another super-impressive wine in this range. To be perfectly honest, the Brunate has never been one of my favorite wines here, but the 2019 is undeniably great. Perhaps the combination of parcels Vietti has today explains the multi-dimensional vibrancy that comes through. This is simply magnificent.

The 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Scarrone is stellar. Rich and expansive, the 2020 is laced with the essence of dark cherry fruit, rose petal, cinnamon, leather and mocha are front and center. All the elements all come together so effortlessly. Floral and spice notes reappear on the finish. This is such a classy and polished Barbera.

Here's an important keepsake from a classic vintage. The Casanova di Neri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto needs time to open, especially if you plan to drink the wine earlier than is recommended (you're best off waiting five years or more). This powerful wine is packed tight with black fruit, plum and summer ripe cherry. Those dark fruit tones segue to spice, baked clay, balsam herb and gardening soil. The oak is always more apparent in the Cerretalto (which is released one year later, as if it were a Riserva) compared to the Tenuta Nuova. The vineyard used makes a big difference, giving this wine more textural weight and thicker fiber. It's all a question of taste, but if you want power (with 15% alcohol), richness, sensuality and voluptuousness in your Brunello, Cerretalto is the bottle at the end of the rainbow.

An idiosyncratic Chardonnay, engaging for its differences, including a delicate overtone of exotic spices and dried herbs and a macerated quality to the expressive blood orange and strawberry fruit flavors, with hints of grated ginger, sea salt and honeycomb. Reveals racy acidity that keeps this light on its feet throughout, with a long, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2028.

Ripe plush dark fruit with lots of cocoa beans, mussel, dark spices and hazelnuts. Really flavorful and fleshy on the round, full-bodied palate with a mouthful of lush, silky tannins and a long, creamy finish. Quite a hedonistic Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo to enjoy in the next six years. Drink from 2024.