The 2016 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva is rich and dark with a mix of ripe plums and cherries, complemented by sweet herbs, violets and hints of brown sugar. Its textures are silky, cast across a weighty framework, with a more savory display of red and black fruits, along with notes of roasted almond and mocha. The density and sheer heft of the 2016 is notable, yet the Riserva maintains balance throughout. There’s an underlying structure and acidity here to warrant cellaring, if you so choose.

The 2017 Barolo Brunate is a powerful, brooding wine. Huge dark fruit, leather, spice, menthol and dried herbs all build in a potent Barolo that is enshrouded by tannins. The 2017 is going to need quite a bit of time in the cellar. Today, it is very much a brooding powerhouse. Dark wild cherry, licorice, tar, menthol and spice take shape in the glass, but the 2017 is clearly an infant, and an unruly one at that.

The 2017 Barolo Ravera is a powerhouse. My impression is that the 2017 is going to develop into something truly special. It has all the energy that makes this site so distinctive, but with an extra kick of fruit density and a whole range of exotic aromatics that make for a truly drop-dead gorgeous wine. Bright red/purplish fruit, rose petal, chalk and white pepper build into a finish laced with searing intensity. This is such an impressive wine.

The 2019 Cannonau di Sardegna Naracu is incredibly pretty and perfumed, aromas of crushed stone giving way to violet pastille, blueberries and a dusting of confectioner’s spice. It’s silky and round, leading off with depths of ripe blackberry fruit, yet gaining in tension as a coating of minerals and fine tannin collects toward the close. This tapers off youthfully structured with echoes of licorice and lavender lingering long. The Naracu is so pretty and an excellent value as well.

The 2020 Rosato Susumaniello Askos slowly evolves in the glass, at first just dusty and floral, then developing a vivid display of melon and sweet spice over time. It’s soft, almost creamy in feel, soothing further with ripe citrus-tinged fruits, as a wave of juicy acidity lifts the experience nicely. This concluded perfumed and spicy to notes of ginger and kiwi. Very nice.

The 2017 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva Spelt wafts up with a display of savory cherry sauce and wild herbs complemented by hints of sweet spice and smoke. It’s velvety in texture yet lifted and refined, with a mix of polished red and black fruits and a web of fine-grained tannins toward the close. While youthfully structured and poised, a lasting flourish of licorice, currant and tobacco lingers incredibly long. As enjoyable as this is today, the 2017 needs another year or two of cellaring to show its best.

Selecting fruit from the Scarrone vineyard in Castiglione Falletto, Luca Currado ages this wine in a mix of large oak casks, barriques and stainless-steel tanks. It’s bold and concentrated in the warm 2017 vintage, violet-scented and brimming with flavors of juicy raspberry and blackberry—deep, dense and vibrantly alive. For a wine that seems to push the limits on alcohol, acidity and fruit concentration, it’s impressively balanced and elegant.

The 2019 Rosso is very easy to like with its vibrant display of citrus-tinged sweet wild berries and violets. It’s soft in feel with juicy acids that usher in a balancing mix of tart red and black fruits. Energy remains high as this tapers off spicy with a hint of lime and green apple, which may seem out of place in a Rosso yet works well here. This is a blend of 60% Carignano, 30% Cannonau and 10% Muristellu (Bovale Sardo).