The Alois Lageder 2017 Alto Adige Chardonnay Löwengang is a terrific wine that delivers much of the intensity and texture you can expect of barrique-fermented Chardonnay, without any residual heaviness. In fact, the wine is tonic and bright with vivid orchard fruit, Golden Delicious apple, honey and toasted almond. Löwengang's balance is spot on, and the wine achieves nice levels of freshness, richness and length.

This is a special wine with the words "pianeta, terra, planet, earth" painted by hand at the bottom of the bottle. The Enrico Serafino 2007 Alta Langa Metodo Classico Pas Dosé Riserva Zero 140 opens to a pale gold color and shows immediate warmness and creaminess. This sparkling blend of 85% Pinot Nero and 15% Chardonnay is very inviting. You get poached pear and peach with toasted almond and baked bread. The texture is soft and rich with fine, soft beading that keeps the wine lively and fresh to the end. It ages on the lees for a whopping 140 months, or 12 years. In fact, the winery claims that this is the longest-aging sparkling wine produced in Italy. A precious few 890 bottles were made (and my sample was disgorged at the end of January 2020).

With a decade of maturity now, the 2010 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Podium from Garofoli is in a wonderful place and still full of potential. Zesty yellow citrus gives way to notes of nectarine, rich exotic spices and sweet almond. It’s soft and enveloping, not showing the weight often associated with Verdicchio, but instead offering lift and precision. White orchard fruits and minerals cascade across a core of vibrant acids. This is so lively and balanced; a great example of just how beautifully the Verdicchio can age, while closing with pretty inner florals, hints of lime and hazelnut. The 2010 can be lost in the cellar for another ten years if you like, but who can resist it now?

The Vietti 2016 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione is a complete wine, offering exact measures of purity, intensity, freshness and structure. This is the 360-degree Barolo from Vietti, with fruit sourced closest to home in Castiglione Falletto. Rocche di Castiglione sees more shade hours, and that becomes an important factor in the hottest vintages and the longest growing seasons. It creates diurnal shifts that positively impact the purity and brilliant focus of the fruit. Of all the comuni of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto produced exceptional results across the board in this classic vintage. Dark fruit, pressed lilac, blood orange, powdered licorice, balsam herb, spice, iron ore and aniseed fit together perfectly like pieces in a puzzle. Once completed, that puzzle offers a dazzling panoramic portrait of this special Barolo territory. A mere 3,394 bottles and 300 magnums were produced.

2021 Award

Flamboyant white with the full, Burgundy work on it, showing ripe apples, pie crust, yogurt and toasted coconut. It’s full-bodied with a dense, layered palate and so much fruit. Oily and powerful. One of the best Löwengangs I have tasted. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.

Drawing its fruit from Serralunga d'Alba, the Vietti 2016 Barolo Lazzarito is built like a pyramid. It is grounded by a thick base of robust fruit and power and soars upward in intensity thanks to its beautifully lifted bouquet. It reveals direct and solid lines with blackberry, plum, spice, tar, licorice, candied orange peel and truffle-infused earth. A second wave of aromas offers dark minerals and ferrous qualities such as iron ore and rust. Baroli from Serralunga d'Alba are often in a category apart thanks to their richness and sheer fruit weight. With extra aeration, Lazzarito delivers mint, balsam herb or Fernet-Branca. Production is 9,293 bottles and 300 magnums.

There’s a pretty dried-clove and vanilla lift to this, which is subtly played, and lemon and apple-curd aromas lurking in the background. Taut, mineral and precise, it nevertheless manages to deliver a good deal of concentration and hearty stone fruit. Drink now.