The 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico seduces with a sweetly spiced and extroverted display that blends medicinal black cherries, mint, lavender, sweet smoke and a dusting of cocoa powder. The textures are silky, energized by vibrant acidity, as ripe red and black fruits drench the palate, leaving notes of bitter dark chocolate, cinnamon and clove. A coating of tannin lingers, tugging at the senses with youthful poise, and hints of sour citrus and inner violet florals linger long. The 2016 is massive, structured and intense yet with tremendous balance and potential for the future...

The 2014 is a unique rendition of Dal Forno’s Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta. It's a remarkably pretty wine, displaying crushed ripe strawberries and plums with cinnamon, clove, vanilla bean and a cooling hint of mint. The textures are velvety, coating all that they touch in glycerol fruit concentration, yet somehow coming across as zesty and spry, contrasting weight with saturating notes of tart blackberry and savory spice. There’s a bit of a lull in the midpalate, yet it hardly takes away from the experience...

The 2013 Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta is an especially elegant, pretty and understated expression of the Dal Forno style. Black cherries dipped in rum, plum sauce, brown spices and a dusting of cocoa rise up from the glass. It’s silky and polished, seamlessly washing across the palate with plush ripe red and black currants, while leaving minerals and a fine coating of tannin in its wake. Zesty acids add further cheek-puckering tension, as this tapers off structured, with notes of mocha and mentholated herbs lingering long...

The 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta needs time – and a lot of it – to show all of its charms. But worry not, because you can already find pleasure in its dramatic display of rich plums and cherries dipped in mocha-infused chocolate with a dusting of cinnamon sugar and sweet tobacco. This is black as night yet truly purple in color, with depths of concentrated wild berry fruits contrasted by zesty acids that do an amazing job of lifting the expression...

There is a massive amount of pleasure to be found in the 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta. It blends elegance with power while contrasting rich dark fruits against sweet herbal tones and spices to create a seductive expression from start to finish. Cherry and plum sauce, lavender, mint and sage can all be found upon first pour, yet it’s the developing notes of rum cake, mocha and licorice that complete the picture perfectly. This is velvety and pliant in texture yet not weighty, all balanced by juicy acids, tart fruits and just a hint of grippy tannins...

With the arrival of Mas de la Rosa in the Familia Torres Priorat wines, Perpetual could seem like a poor relation. However, it stands up well to the challenge. Bright floral aroma with red cherries. Sunburst of red fruits in the mouth, refreshed by a lift of citrus. Memorably brisk, vivid palate. Polished, well rounded, exuberant. Very confident.

Strawberry, cherry, currant, cinnamon and violet aromas and flavors mark this taut red. It's racy and linear in profile, with fine tension on the lingering aftertaste. Excellent length reveals chalk and spice notes.

Well-marked by spicy oak, this red also features cherry, currant, floral and mineral flavors. It's vibrant and balanced, with a long, sleek, mouthwatering finish.

This wonderful wine layers together subtle red fruit, cinnamon, tamarind and savory, meaty accents for an extraordinarily complex outcome. Mouth filling and rich in texture but also lively and bright in underlying acidity, it is beautifully balanced and will age well.

Complexity and seamlessness are the hallmarks of this elegant, crisp and well-aged wine made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. From aromas of toasted walnut and ginger to tangy white-peach, almond and tamarind flavors, this layered and creamy-textured sparkler builds great interest and ends with a lingering finish.

The Biondi-Santi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino exudes dark, velvety fruit and concentration while maintaining the signature elegance, suppleness and lithe personalty that distinguishes the iconic Il Greppo estate. I found this new release to be quite distinctive and exquisitely beautiful, setting it apart from many of the past vintages we are most familiar with. This 2015 edition is dark, exuberant and bold, but precise, focused and sharp as well. It will live for years in your cellar, but tasted now in its infancy, the wine shows blackberry, dried cherry, plum and dark cassis...

Here's a wine that proudly opens a new chapter for Montalcino's celebrated Rosso. The Biondi-Santi 2017 Rosso di Montalcino opens to immediately recognized Sangiovese character, presented in a soft, delicate and nuanced manner. The wine pours from its distinctive yellow-labeled bottle to a beautifully mild garnet color with dark sepia accents. As it takes on oxygen in the glass, the wine reveals a slow progression of wild berry, rose, tar, spice and tilled earth. There are faint traces of caramel, candied orange and wild mountain herb....

From one of the most iconic wineries in the Orientale, this is aged for two years in oak and a further three in bottle. A proper meditation wine, great with game, strong cheeses or a cigar. It has a huge nose of stewed red fruits, ethereal bramble forest fruits and blackberry jam. Generous, with spicy, bitter cherry-stone freshness. Full-bodied with a rich, intense, spicy undertone.

A richly pungent red, with smoke and forest floor notes on the nose transitioning to a well-knit range of baked black cherry, bay leaf and dried fig flavors, with a touch of espresso. Full-bodied and dense, with the fine-grained tannins holding sway on the long, minerally finish. Corvina, Rondinella, Oseleta and Croatina. Best from 2023 through 2038. From Italy.

Elegant and pure-tasting, with red berry, plum and raspberry flavors that are well-structured. Toasty mid-palate, with a rich finish that offers spicy minerality.

The 2014 growing season in Valpolicella was plagued by hail in June and copious rain through mid-October, leaving the grape skins fragile and, in the estimation of Romano Dal Forno, not suitable for making Amarone. Instead, he used all of the fruit he and his team could salvage to make this wine, selecting only the best bunches and drying them for 45 days. After fermentation, the wine rested in new oak barrels for two years and another three in bottle, developing a rich complexity that reads more like an Amarone than a typical Valpolicella. It unfolds with flavors of warmed cherry...

A pure but subtle notion of freshly cut Golden Delicious suggests juiciness, creaminess and freshness in equal measure. The palate of this wine homes in on rounded ripeness on a smooth, gently textured, creamy palate. This wine is resonant but sinuous, concentrated and juicy with a lasting, apple-flavored finish.

To date, the 2016 is the finest Coltassala – first released in 1980. Now classified as a single-vineyard Gran Selezione rather than an IGT ‘SuperTuscan’, Coltassala emphasises the freshness found at Castello di Volpaia due to the extra-high altitude. A blend of 95% Sangiovese and 5% Mammolo, this classy Chianti Classico spends 24 months in new oak, with six months in bottle before release. The dark fruits, slight herbal edge and generous tannins make this a great partner for wild boar ragù.

Intense and mouthwatering, with tropical notes of pineapple and passion fruit on a light frame, showing plenty of herbal accents of lemongrass and thyme.

Expressive notes of pineapple, candied kumquat and lemon thyme are set on a lithe, light- to medium-bodied frame in this fresh and zesty white. Minerally smoke and stone notes linger on the finish. Drink now through 2023.