Packaged with a brown label, the Tenuta Scerscé 2018 Valtellina Superiore Nebbiolo Essenza is enormously clear and intense with varietal tones of wild berry, tart cherry, blue flower and potting soil. This wine shows a pretty floral side with blue violet and fresh lilac that offer a pretty sense of vertical lift to the bouquet.

This is ripe and dark-fruited with chocolaty and spicy undertones. Medium-bodied with velvety tannins. Polished and soft. Juicy finish. Drink now.

Black walnut husk, game and truffle chocolate to the plums and dark cherries. Medium- to full-bodied palate with firm and fine-grained tannins that glide through to a juicy, bright finish. Lovely austerity here will help it hold. From organically grown grapes. Drink or keep.

A multifaceted red, featuring cherry, strawberry, floral, iron, tobacco and oak spice aromas and flavors. Just when you think this is ready to enjoy, the firm, dense structure engages, leaving a stiff, if long, finish. Best from 2025 through 2042.

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.

The Vietti 2020 Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Derthona (aged in a combination of oak and ceramic tile-lined cement) is a wine of nice tension and ample texture. These contrasting characteristics shape the wine, which is horizontal in approach with broad appeal. The bouquet delivers tones of orchard fruit, saffron, honey and crushed stone. This medium-bodied wine will evolve slowly over the next 10 years, transitioning to more mineral, beeswax and dried fruit aromas. Production is 9,000 bottles.

Displaying a youthful red-with-orange color, the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is layered with cedar, black raspberry, anise, and tobacco aromas. Medium to full-bodied, it is refreshing without any weight, and its clean acidity is evenly balanced through the wine, with fine tannins that take a pleasing angular feel that’s well-managed. It’s long on the palate, its delicate perfume hovering on the palate after the wine is gone, with notes of bergamot. This very appealing wine will continue to improve with another couple of years in the cellar. Drink 2026-2038.

A burst of zesty green citrus, sour melon and wild herbal tones introduce the 2021 Sauvignon. It opens with a pleasant inner sweetness complicated by salty minerality and a core of brilliant acidity that maintains fantastic energy throughout. This finishes tense, nearly crunchy in feel, with candied lime and rosemary nuances that create a sweet and sour sensation. I love the 2021s contrasting nature. Nicely done.