The nose is lifted and fresh with tones of red fruits, cherries, strawberries, rose petals, fresh picked berries, and some earth notes. There is good freshness but it does lack some depth. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and youthful, medium+ tannins. This is a good and forward Rosso Valtellina that delivers exactly what you want it to deliver.
The nose is fresh, balanced, and perfumed with tones of red fruits, wild spices, fresh picked herbs, red cherries, strawberries, violets, licorice, and a touch of earth notes. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose along with tart, medium+ acidity and silky, high tannins. This is a lovely, young Valtellina that could use a few years to really round into form.
The nose is aromatic and classic Sauvignon Blanc with fresh tones of lemon peels, grassy notes, white fruits, peaches, and sweet lime tones. This is a bit straightforward on the nose, but it hits the notes well. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and balanced with tart, high acidity. The acidity has some lovely cut and a refreshing quality though the feel does lack some depth.
The nose is classic and balanced with tones of blueberries, red cherries, sweet tobacco, spice notes, and some roses. This is straightforward and with decent depth, but also with a relative simplicity too. The Medium bodied feel shows off the balance of the nose with tart, medium+ acidity and chalky, medium tannins. This is a fun and balanced Dolcetto. It doesn't necessarily do anything amazing or great, but it does what it does well and delivers for the expectations.
The nose is balanced and savory with red cherries, raspberries, tobacco notes, licorice, roasted herbs, and some violets. The Full bodied feel is textured, fresh, and balanced with crisp, high acidity and silky, medium tannins. This is a very good Barbera that hits all of the notes it needs it hit and does it well. It won't blow you away with depth or complexity, but I will never turn this down.
The nose is red-fruited and forward with tones of red cherries, strawberries, spice notes, liqueur, crushed rocks, some vanilla bean, toast, and herbs. There is also a bit of oak that pokes out a little bit. The Full bodied feel is fresh and forward with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. The structure is youthful, but it is also more integrated than one would fully expect with the youth. This could certainly benefit though from some aging as the oak is a little noticeable on the nose and palate, but it isn't close to a driving force.
The nose is fresh and aromatic tones of peaches, lemon peels, white fruits, saline, green apples, and some white flowers. The Medium bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose while also possessing racy, high acidity. The acidity has some nice cut and mouthwatering qualities while the palate shows off the freshness of the nose.
The nose is forward and fresh with tones of dark red cherries, plums, herbs, tobacco, and some red fruits. There is good balance to the nose, but it lacks some depth and complexity. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose along with tart, medium+ acidity and medium tannins. This is a solid, if uninspiring Barbera d'asti. I didn't go in with high expectations and it mostly met those, but it is also fairly forgettable.
The nose is savory and balanced with tones of dark red cherries, plums, raspberries, violets, crushed rocks, licorice, savory spices, and some rose petals. There is excellent balance and complexity, though it does lack some extra depth that would really draw you in. The Medium/full bodied feel is polished and refined with crisp, high acidity and silky, medium tannins. This is a lovely and balanced Barbera d'Alba that really leans into the savory side of the grape.
The nose is fresh and lifted with elegant tones of rose petals, fresh roasted herbs, dark red cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and some tar notes. This favors the upper register with an attractive, red-fruited take. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose with tart, high acidity and youthful, high tannins. This needs a few years to smooth out and really round into form. As always, this really outpunches its weight class and is a real killer value in Piedmont.
The nose is vibrant and perfumed with fresh tones of strawberries, raspberries, sweet red cherries, bits of petrichor, dark red cherries, sweet tobacco, roasted herbs, licorice, and some crushed rocks. There is good depth and class to the nose that is really enticing and overall lovely. The Medium/full bodied feel is refined and elegant with racy, high acidity and extremely youthful, high tannins. This is clearly a young wine, no bones about that. But there is an attractive, red-fruited quality that is extremely enjoyable. This will likely need 8+ years before it really hits its stride, though it does feel like it could have a fairly accessible window for a while.
The nose is lively and upfront with fresh tones of plums, herbs, sour red cherries, licorice, savory spices, and some violets. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced with crisp, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. There is good depth for the expectations across the nose and palate. This may not be the most complex Sangiovese, but it does hit the notes it needs to hit.
The nose is balanced and savory with classic Sangiovese tones of roasted herbs, sour red cherries, licorice, raspberries, crushed rocks, violets, and some earth tones. There is good depth with the savoriness really showing itself off while the fruit is firmly in the red spectrum. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced and savory with crisp, medium+ acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. This could likely use a couple of years to round into form and really shows itself to be an excellent value.
The nose shows a darker take to the fruit with tones of raspberries, dark red cherries, plums, tobacco notes, licorice, and some violets. The nose is balanced, but it does lack a bit of depth and complexity. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. As with the nose, this shows off good balance and a darker fruit profile, but it lacks some depth and complexity of higher end wines. This could use a couple of years to round into form, but it doesn't feel like it will turn into a butterfly and get loads better with age.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose shows a dark fruit profile with savory qualities to the tones of dark red cherries, raspberries, licorice, plums, currants, sweet tobacco notes, savory spices, and some toasty tones. There is good depth with a seamless quality to the tones that allows them to flow really well together. The Full bodied feel shows off excellent balance with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This is clearly youthful, but it has a bit of flesh to it right now that shows really well already and will likely provide a very open window.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose takes it up a clear level from the previous wines as there is just a different level of depth to the tones of dark red cherries, plums, dark red berries, raspberries, cranberries, licorice, liqueur notes, herbal spices, sweet tobacco, violets, toast notes, and a dose of oak that lurks underneath the richer fruit tones. The Full bodied feel is larger scaled and with a slight brutish quality while the medium+ acidity is mouthwatering and the medium+ tannins have a bit of chewiness to them. This needs the better part of 5+ years to round into form. The oak is more noticeable on the nose than the palate which gives me some hope that it can integrate with time.
The nose is fresh and vibrant with tones of almonds, pears, green apples, saline, white fruits, and some white flowers. There is good complexity, but it lacks a fair bit of depth as the tones more sit on the surface. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and balanced with tart, medium+ acidity. The lack of depth from the nose carries through on the palate and the finish is a little clipped. This is a pretty easy drinking and fresh wine for what it is and delivers for under-$20.
The nose is fresh and upfront with raspberries, plums, red cherries, rose petals, spice notes, and some tobacco tones. There is good balance to the nose but it does lack some depth. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and lively with tart, medium+ acidity and chalky, medium tannins. The tannins are a little coarse and the lack of depth from the nose is present on the palate. Still, this is a solid value wine for when you want some solid to go with some red sauce.
There is a distinct toasty note that strikes right off the bat but it peels back into tones of red cherries, licorice, violets, raspberries, herbs, vanilla beans, and some spice notes. There is a distinct oak note, but it isn't overwhelming. The Full bodied feel is a forward with tart, medium+ acidity and slightly coarse, medium+ tannins. This didn't really feel like it was a proper step up from the regular Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. It just shows off a bit of a heavier side, but it loses some charm in the process.
The nose favors the darker tones with dark red cherries, raspberries, currants, plums, licorice, violets, liqueur notes, and some toasted oak. This has some power behind it but the oak-driven flavors are a slight bit out of balance. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off a richer side with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This could use a few years to round into form and hopefully the oak integrates a bit more.
The nose is forward and fresh with crunchy red fruits, berries, licorice, spice notes, plums, raspberries, and some violets. While this isn't the most complex nose, it does a great job at hitting the notes it needs to hit. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and youthful, medium tannins. This is a fun and lovely Valpolicella. As noted with the nose, it does exactly what you need it to and that is totally fine by me.
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella
The nose is deep and rich with fragrant tones of dark red cherries, plums, raisins, black raspberries, bitter chocolate, licorice, liqueur notes, and violets. The Full bodied feel is balanced and larger scaled (it is Amarone after all) with medium acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This is a bit of a hulking beast at the moment, but it still provides some real youthful joy.
2021 Tenuta Scerscé Rosso di Valtellina Nettare 88 Points
Italy, Lombardia, Valtellina, Rosso di Valtellina
The nose is lifted and fresh with tones of red fruits, cherries, strawberries, rose petals, fresh picked berries, and some earth notes. There is good freshness but it does lack some depth. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and youthful, medium+ tannins. This is a good and forward Rosso Valtellina that delivers exactly what you want it to deliver.
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2017 Tenuta Scerscé Valtellina Superiore Essenza 90 Points
Italy, Lombardia, Valtellina, Valtellina Superiore
The nose is fresh, balanced, and perfumed with tones of red fruits, wild spices, fresh picked herbs, red cherries, strawberries, violets, licorice, and a touch of earth notes. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose along with tart, medium+ acidity and silky, high tannins. This is a lovely, young Valtellina that could use a few years to really round into form.
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2021 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Langhe Sauvignon Blanc 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
The nose is aromatic and classic Sauvignon Blanc with fresh tones of lemon peels, grassy notes, white fruits, peaches, and sweet lime tones. This is a bit straightforward on the nose, but it hits the notes well. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and balanced with tart, high acidity. The acidity has some lovely cut and a refreshing quality though the feel does lack some depth.
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2020 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Dolcetto d'Alba Monte Aribaldo 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba
The nose is classic and balanced with tones of blueberries, red cherries, sweet tobacco, spice notes, and some roses. This is straightforward and with decent depth, but also with a relative simplicity too. The Medium bodied feel shows off the balance of the nose with tart, medium+ acidity and chalky, medium tannins. This is a fun and balanced Dolcetto. It doesn't necessarily do anything amazing or great, but it does what it does well and delivers for the expectations.
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2021 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbera d'Asti 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti
The nose is balanced and savory with red cherries, raspberries, tobacco notes, licorice, roasted herbs, and some violets. The Full bodied feel is textured, fresh, and balanced with crisp, high acidity and silky, medium tannins. This is a very good Barbera that hits all of the notes it needs it hit and does it well. It won't blow you away with depth or complexity, but I will never turn this down.
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2018 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbaresco Martinenga 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
The nose is red-fruited and forward with tones of red cherries, strawberries, spice notes, liqueur, crushed rocks, some vanilla bean, toast, and herbs. There is also a bit of oak that pokes out a little bit. The Full bodied feel is fresh and forward with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. The structure is youthful, but it is also more integrated than one would fully expect with the youth. This could certainly benefit though from some aging as the oak is a little noticeable on the nose and palate, but it isn't close to a driving force.
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2021 Vietti Roero Arneis 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero
The nose is fresh and aromatic tones of peaches, lemon peels, white fruits, saline, green apples, and some white flowers. The Medium bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose while also possessing racy, high acidity. The acidity has some nice cut and mouthwatering qualities while the palate shows off the freshness of the nose.
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2020 Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne 87 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti
The nose is forward and fresh with tones of dark red cherries, plums, herbs, tobacco, and some red fruits. There is good balance to the nose, but it lacks some depth and complexity. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose along with tart, medium+ acidity and medium tannins. This is a solid, if uninspiring Barbera d'asti. I didn't go in with high expectations and it mostly met those, but it is also fairly forgettable.
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2020 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Tre Vigne 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
The nose is savory and balanced with tones of dark red cherries, plums, raspberries, violets, crushed rocks, licorice, savory spices, and some rose petals. There is excellent balance and complexity, though it does lack some extra depth that would really draw you in. The Medium/full bodied feel is polished and refined with crisp, high acidity and silky, medium tannins. This is a lovely and balanced Barbera d'Alba that really leans into the savory side of the grape.
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2020 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
The nose is fresh and lifted with elegant tones of rose petals, fresh roasted herbs, dark red cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and some tar notes. This favors the upper register with an attractive, red-fruited take. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off the freshness of the nose with tart, high acidity and youthful, high tannins. This needs a few years to smooth out and really round into form. As always, this really outpunches its weight class and is a real killer value in Piedmont.
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2019 Vietti Barolo Castiglione 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The nose is vibrant and perfumed with fresh tones of strawberries, raspberries, sweet red cherries, bits of petrichor, dark red cherries, sweet tobacco, roasted herbs, licorice, and some crushed rocks. There is good depth and class to the nose that is really enticing and overall lovely. The Medium/full bodied feel is refined and elegant with racy, high acidity and extremely youthful, high tannins. This is clearly a young wine, no bones about that. But there is an attractive, red-fruited quality that is extremely enjoyable. This will likely need 8+ years before it really hits its stride, though it does feel like it could have a fairly accessible window for a while.
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2020 Capezzana Barco Reale di Carmignano 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Barco Reale di Carmignano
The nose is lively and upfront with fresh tones of plums, herbs, sour red cherries, licorice, savory spices, and some violets. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced with crisp, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. There is good depth for the expectations across the nose and palate. This may not be the most complex Sangiovese, but it does hit the notes it needs to hit.
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2019 Capezzana Carmignano Villa di Capezzana 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Carmignano
The nose is balanced and savory with classic Sangiovese tones of roasted herbs, sour red cherries, licorice, raspberries, crushed rocks, violets, and some earth tones. There is good depth with the savoriness really showing itself off while the fruit is firmly in the red spectrum. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced and savory with crisp, medium+ acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. This could likely use a couple of years to round into form and really shows itself to be an excellent value.
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2019 Casanova di Neri Rosso di Montalcino 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino
The nose shows a darker take to the fruit with tones of raspberries, dark red cherries, plums, tobacco notes, licorice, and some violets. The nose is balanced, but it does lack a bit of depth and complexity. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. As with the nose, this shows off good balance and a darker fruit profile, but it lacks some depth and complexity of higher end wines. This could use a couple of years to round into form, but it doesn't feel like it will turn into a butterfly and get loads better with age.
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2018 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino 91 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose shows a dark fruit profile with savory qualities to the tones of dark red cherries, raspberries, licorice, plums, currants, sweet tobacco notes, savory spices, and some toasty tones. There is good depth with a seamless quality to the tones that allows them to flow really well together. The Full bodied feel shows off excellent balance with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This is clearly youthful, but it has a bit of flesh to it right now that shows really well already and will likely provide a very open window.
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2018 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 92 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose takes it up a clear level from the previous wines as there is just a different level of depth to the tones of dark red cherries, plums, dark red berries, raspberries, cranberries, licorice, liqueur notes, herbal spices, sweet tobacco, violets, toast notes, and a dose of oak that lurks underneath the richer fruit tones. The Full bodied feel is larger scaled and with a slight brutish quality while the medium+ acidity is mouthwatering and the medium+ tannins have a bit of chewiness to them. This needs the better part of 5+ years to round into form. The oak is more noticeable on the nose than the palate which gives me some hope that it can integrate with time.
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2021 Fattoria La Valentina Pecorino 87 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Colline Pescaresi IGT
The nose is fresh and vibrant with tones of almonds, pears, green apples, saline, white fruits, and some white flowers. There is good complexity, but it lacks a fair bit of depth as the tones more sit on the surface. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and balanced with tart, medium+ acidity. The lack of depth from the nose carries through on the palate and the finish is a little clipped. This is a pretty easy drinking and fresh wine for what it is and delivers for under-$20.
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2020 Fattoria La Valentina Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 88 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
The nose is fresh and upfront with raspberries, plums, red cherries, rose petals, spice notes, and some tobacco tones. There is good balance to the nose but it does lack some depth. The Medium bodied feel is fresh and lively with tart, medium+ acidity and chalky, medium tannins. The tannins are a little coarse and the lack of depth from the nose is present on the palate. Still, this is a solid value wine for when you want some solid to go with some red sauce.
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2018 Fattoria La Valentina Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Spelt 89 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
There is a distinct toasty note that strikes right off the bat but it peels back into tones of red cherries, licorice, violets, raspberries, herbs, vanilla beans, and some spice notes. There is a distinct oak note, but it isn't overwhelming. The Full bodied feel is a forward with tart, medium+ acidity and slightly coarse, medium+ tannins. This didn't really feel like it was a proper step up from the regular Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. It just shows off a bit of a heavier side, but it loses some charm in the process.
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2019 Binomio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva 90 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
The nose favors the darker tones with dark red cherries, raspberries, currants, plums, licorice, violets, liqueur notes, and some toasted oak. This has some power behind it but the oak-driven flavors are a slight bit out of balance. The Medium/full bodied feel shows off a richer side with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This could use a few years to round into form and hopefully the oak integrates a bit more.
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2021 Tenuta Sant'Antonio Valpolicella Nanfré 89 Points
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella
The nose is forward and fresh with crunchy red fruits, berries, licorice, spice notes, plums, raspberries, and some violets. While this isn't the most complex nose, it does a great job at hitting the notes it needs to hit. The Medium/full bodied feel is balanced and fresh with crisp, medium+ acidity and youthful, medium tannins. This is a fun and lovely Valpolicella. As noted with the nose, it does exactly what you need it to and that is totally fine by me.
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2017 Tenuta Sant'Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella 92 Points
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella
The nose is deep and rich with fragrant tones of dark red cherries, plums, raisins, black raspberries, bitter chocolate, licorice, liqueur notes, and violets. The Full bodied feel is balanced and larger scaled (it is Amarone after all) with medium acidity and chewy, medium+ tannins. This is a bit of a hulking beast at the moment, but it still provides some real youthful joy.
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