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.

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...

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.

This is dark and packed with flavors of dried cherry, black olive and licorice. Thick, chewy tannins add to the density of the wine, eventually loosening as the bright acidity begins to trickle through. Some of that darkness may come from oseleta, a thick-skinned, tannic variety that comprises ten percent of the blend (the balance is corvina with 20 percent rondinella and 10 percent croatina). The grapes dried for three months in open-air rooms, and the wine finished fermentation in new barrels, where it remained for two years, picking up notes of clove, nutmeg and anise. The wine’s flavors co